Mosaic
by CrystalRei
Summary: A collection of colors, metals, gems... or in this case snapshots of lives, connected but distinct, together forming a world of adventure.
1. Introductions

**A quick note:** Welcome! I feel like I should start with a little bit about this collection. While this first entry was named 'Introductions' for a reason, any ficlet here should be able to be read completely independently. For what it's worth, this is game-verse based; and I'm happy in my sandbox of Generations I through IV. This collection is never going to be marked complete; I just plan on adding to this little 'verse I'm building here whenever the mood strikes me.

So, without further adieu...

* * *

 **Introductions**

* * *

 _The first time it happened, people cheered. It was unprecedented, but thrilling, to watch the grandson of the great Professor Oak take Kanto's gym circuit by storm, and become the youngest champion._

 _When it happened again almost immediately after, it just got even more exciting; the entirety of Kanto fascinated by the spectacle that rivalry created. When the third took down now-Acting Champion Lance and got inducted into the Hall of Fame herself a few weeks after, it was a celebration, but not shocking as it once was. Noteworthy, but mostly because it meant that Pallet Town's entire cohort that year had completed the challenge._

 _But then it happened again in Hoenn, and in Johto. And again, in Sinnoh._

 _And then people started looking at each other._

 _Four reigning champions; three more inducted into the Hall of Fame; a handful of others gaining eight badges in just as much time, being watched as they prepared for the League. Criminal organizations had toppled in their wake. Legends had been calmed by their actions. All of them barely into their teens, if that._

' _The prodigy phenomenon', they were sometimes called. It was as good a moniker as any._

(-o-)

It was Scott, ever the eye for talent, who suggested they all be interviewed at once. 'The story of the century', he called it, and he wasn't entirely wrong. _Of course_ it had to happen at some point.

Naturally the champions were the first to be contacted, who would then be told to bring in their peers; anyone else that had taken that journey with them.

Well, that was how it was supposed to go anyway – they ended up with three of them and Blue.

"No, no, no, this isn't going to work like this." Mary groaned over the video conference, putting her head in her hands. "We would love to have you as well, Blue, but-"

"I get it," Blue cut in bluntly. "I'm not him, not part of the set, all that jazz. Hell I can't even resent it anymore."

Every now and then there was the occasional piece about the famous Red's disappearance and where he'd been for the past… actually, it was over four years now. At this point it wasn't such a big deal anymore, now that he was confirmed to be alive, but nevertheless the worrying started all over again. How could this thing happen without him, if they had no idea where he was?

That was when Blue, Leaf, and Gold exchanged glances and near-simultaneously said they'd take care of it.

(-o-)

 _Even winning the full set of eight badges is an accomplishment, especially for trainers as young as they are. The ties, however ill-defined, were still obvious. Even more so when, for the first time, they were all put in the same room. Not all well-known, but each one exceptional._

(-o-)

When Red was brought (some might say 'dragged') back into the public, his presence caused a stir all on its own.

"Of course, that's only going to last until the figure out how difficult it is to get him to say two words," Leaf commented lightly when Blue started complaining about it. Sitting next to her in the waiting room, Crystal snickered. For his part, Red offered a tiny smile of his own and shook his head, clearly amused.

It had taken some convincing for a few of them, but they were all gathered now in a sparse waiting room, ready to be escorted to the set up for the interview. One pre-recorded broadcast and an accompanying article; to 'introduce them to the world', so to speak.

They'd come to a consensus that the hosts probably hadn't been planning on _thirteen_ in total, but… as Barry had pointed out, they _had_ asked.

Red and Blue were probably the only ones to have their story known in all four regions, but they'd all met each other once or twice, or at least had heard of each other by this point. Even so, this was actually the first time they'd all been in the same place at once. Thankfully things were clicking between them.

Mostly.

"Are… you sure I should be here?" Wally asked, fidgeting with a pokéball in his hands.

May and Brendan were both quick on the answer. "Of course."

Red looked him over quietly and nodded in agreement. Lucas just snorted a bit. "You got past Victory Road. With asthma."

"If anything, I'm less deserving to be here than you are," Lyra pointed out from the other side of the small room. "I'm the one who's never even tried for the full circuit." Her marill's chirp was a little sulky, but didn't seem to be an outright disagreement.

Wally stammered out some sort of reassurance, but once Gold rolled his eyes he trailed off. "You _both_ deserve to be here," the Johto champion stated definitively, resting a hand on Lyra's shoulder in a show of support.

Then the cameraman poked his head in and told them they were ready.

(-o-)

 _Very few people_ don't _know who Champion Red is these days. Not only for being the youngest person to ever take the title – by however narrow a margin – but also for his stunning, near-singlehanded takedown of the notorious Team Rocket, and for showing everyone just what the young trainers of the world could be capable of._

 _Having disappeared shortly after his induction into Kanto's Hall of Fame, his mystery has only grown over time. His lack of interaction with the press and public at large, along with his now-famed silence, has certainly contributed to that._

(-o-)

He was just here to humor Blue and Leaf, but Red decided he didn't mind the pair of reporters May had recommended. Gabby stated right off she had no problems with "short and sweet" answers, even if they weren't required now (May was stifling a grin as she said that, so Red suspected it was an inside joke of sorts), so she wasn't getting too frustrated with his completely non-verbal answers. Ty was surprisingly unobtrusive considering the number of cameras.

It still made him twitchy, but that was mostly him and had comparatively little to do with the set-up.

The host from Johto – Mary, that was her name – wasn't helping in that regard, but at least Professor Oak had clearly told her what to expect from him.

He was the first one they had latched onto, even though they were all sitting in the same room. They'd started out with the easy questions: how long ago he'd been found (Leaf had managed to track him down almost a year ago), did he have many challengers since then (he shook his head and pointed at Gold), how did that go (Gold made a face; Red just grinned).

Then the segue hit.

"Your disappearance caused quite the commotion," Mary commented. Which was a polite way of saying that he not-really-intentionally freaked a lot of people out. "I'm sure you understand that I have to ask: What caused it?"

And nope; no way was he answering that question. Pleading solitude was technically accurate, but he'd tried it before and it wouldn't keep them off for long.

Mary looked a little flustered when he didn't respond at all, but Gabby bounced back quickly. "Can you at least tell us _where_ you took off too?"

Red just offered her a not-quite-smug smile. An 'I-know-something-you-don't' smile.

Gabby laughed. "Seems like it's closer than we think."

He let them have that one.

(-o-)

 _Grandson of the famed Professor Samuel Oak, Blue was the first of the Pallet cohort to take the champion title, albeit the one with the shortest reign. He continues, however, to hold the record for the fastest run through any region's circuit._

 _In the four years since he's held the position of Viridian Gym Leader, where he quickly shook off the stigma of being an_ ex _-champion and being_ new _to the post._

(-o-)

"Do you two battle often?" Mary asked.

Blue knew _exactly_ what the rumors said, and no, he did _not_ go to have it out with Red again every time he closed the friggin' gym, thank you very much.

"A couple times." Not so much anymore. He left that part out, dodging the very obvious follow-up question.

Every time, he could swear. It was always the 'rivalry' these days. And yet, this was still arguably the most relaxed interview he'd had since he became champion, so it was easy enough to deflect the questions until the topic shifted.

"You have a reputation as the toughest gym leader," Gabby began. "Any thoughts on that?"

"Well I should hope so. It would look pretty bad if a former champion lost too often, now wouldn't it?" He smirked. "That and I'm the only one that doesn't have a type specialty."

"Any plans to change that?"

"I'm going to have to start rotating soon anyway. Just need to finish training up the newcomers – I _like_ my reputation as the designated eighth." Not that people couldn't try earlier, but that was beside the point.

"Are you going to continue Viridian's ground-type specialty?"

"Probably. I have a nidoking and a pupitar I've been wanting to bring into play. Between them and Rhyperior I should have a good start."

"Would you keep your usual team if you could?"

He actually had to give that one some thought. "…Nah. I don't wanna have to hold them back."

(-o-)

 _Hailing from Pallet Town alongside Red and Blue, Leaf cites herself as the third, equal point of a triangular bond among the three of them; and although she may not be as visible as the other two, she isn't wrong – by Red and Blue's own admission. She describes a pact formed among the trio, waiting to start their journeys until even all of them could obtain their trainer's license._

 _Although it was Red who defeated the leader of Team Rocket, Leaf gained some notoriety for herself while battling alongside local police forces in the Silph Co. building during the assault._

(-o-)

"I never felt overshadowed, really," Leaf said. "Taking on the League is a big deal, and they got there first; they earned that." She smiled. "I enjoyed my journey, and that's what matters."

Mary returned the expression. "You did have your own accomplishments though." She glanced at her notes. "I'm told you've been 'making waves' in Hoenn's Battle Frontier."

Scott's words, of course. Leaf was torn between rolling her eyes and laughing, ending up with the latter. "It's been a challenge, and I love it. They really managed to come up with some unique scenarios."

"What's your favorite facility so far?"

"Huh… that's hard actually." She folder her arms as she thought. "I'm torn. I really liked the Pyramid, because I couldn't be prepared as I might like. That sounds counter-intuitive, but I had to rely a lot more on my wits than on prediction. On the other hand," she waved one almost as if to demonstrate, "I really liked the whole concept of the Palace, and I think as nerve-wracking as it was it was a great way to get to know my team better."

They talked a little bit more about the frontier before the focus shifted. "What do you think will be next for you?"

Leaf hummed in thought. "I don't know. I've been wanting to spend some more time in Kanto before I go back to the Frontier. Maybe travel it again, help out at Cinnabar some." She grinned mischievously. "Maybe race Blue again at the Trainer Tower in the Sevii Islands. I bet he still can't beat me."

Further down on the couch, Blue mock-sulked, to the amusement of the others.

(-o-)

 _Having surpassed her father, Gym Leader Norman of Petalburg City, May holds the title of Hoenn's reigning champion. Taking full advantage of the recent division of champion duties, she spends as much time outdoors as indoors, training her team and circulating the region until she is called on._

 _Beyond her champion-hood, May has the claim to fame of one of the most noted individuals in the fight against the dual threat of Team Magma and Team Aqua, alongside then-Reigning Champion Steven Stone as well as several gym leaders._

(-o-)

"So May," Gabby flipped through her cards, settling on the one she wanted to lead with, "I have here that you were actually born in Johto."

"Olivine City, yeah," May replied. "I actually moved here right before I started my journey."

"Was that difficult for you?"

"Um… I started a couple months after my birthday, which was kind of frustrating, but that wasn't Dad's fault. I didn't want to get started and have my family move a whole region away in the middle of it, so I waited." A sudden thought crossed her mind, and she laughed and went with it. "Actually, after everything, I feel more like a Hoenn native than a Johto one. I don't mind that."

"That makes sense, all things considered," Gabby agreed. "You've probably seen more of Hoenn than Johto, I imagine?"

"Definitely. And while I love Olivine, it's definitely been a lot more memorable here."

"Did having someone to travel with help?" Gabby asked, motioning first to Brendan, and then to Wally.

May paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "I'm not sure," she finally admitted. "I hadn't planned on travelling with anyone either before or after the move, and I can't really say we travelled _together_ , you know?" She glanced to either side of her, and they nodded in agreement. Elsewhere in the room, most of the others were doing the same.

"It was nice, though. I didn't have the first clue on how to deal with a desert – it's not like Johto has one – but Brendan helped me out there;" she nudged him playfully, "and it was nice seeing a familiar face in-person every now and then. I think I could have done it, but they made it a lot more fun."

(-o-)

 _Although not a member of the Hall of Fame himself, Brendan has obtained all eight badges from Hoenn's League circuit. Champion May identifies him as her introduction to the life of a trainer, as well as a friend and friendly rival that challenged her "in the best way"._

 _Brendan currently continues to work under his father, studying pokémon habitats and distribution across the region._

(-o-)

"So Brendan," Gabby began after establishing the facts, "Do you think your work under your father changed how you approached your journey?"

Brendan had encountered her and Ty once or twice – not nearly as much as May, but enough to be somewhat familiar with them. Solid trainers, but nothing his team couldn't handle. Though it was impressive at how well Ty could keep tabs on both his camera and the battle to get the shots that were shown on TV later.

They were definitely easygoing, rolling with whatever answer they got. Brendan could see why May asked them to be in on this.

"I… guess it has," he admitted after some thought. "Dad does a lot of field work, always has, so I got a lot of experience in staying safe from him." The fact that his experience came from seeing the consequences of his dad going out alone without so much as a pokémon, well… it didn't seem quite fair to say that on TV.

"Did you accompany him a lot before you got your trainer license?"

"I did," he replied with a smile. "Usually not very far, but enough to get the basics. He took me to Slateport once before I started travelling, but Petalburg Woods was generally as far as I went." He shrugged. "I kept helping him out on my journey too, even though we didn't go together as much."

Gabby hummed an acknowledgement. "Are you planning to become a full-time researcher?" She winked. "I hear there's a paper in the works."

He blinked and ducked his head sheepishly. His hand automatically rose, but he couldn't figure out what for, so he settled for rubbing at the back of his neck for a second before dropping it. "That's mostly Dad's; I don't think I'm even second-author. But yeah I think I might go into research."

"So back to school then?"

"Well, I'm sticking to online courses." He was talking with his hands again. He should probably stop that. "That way I can keep up with field work; at least until I can go to college."

(-o-)

 _Champion May introduced Wally to the interview team as "a friend [she was] excited to see turn into a rival." In turn, Wally says May was not only the reason he was able to obtain his first pokémon Ralts (now Gardevoir), but also was his mentor and inspiration throughout his journey._

 _Despite suffering additional challenges as a trainer due to asthma, Wally holds all eight Hoenn gym badges, and has reached the region's Pokémon League._

(-o-)

Wally fidgeted with nerves as the interviewers turned their attention to him. All he had was his badges, much less than the others. What else could he say about his journey?

He ran away, plain and simple. He hadn't even written to his family until May talked him into it after she became champion.

"I hear you have made a challenge to the League as well?" Gabby asked, taking the lead as she had for the other Hoenn kids.

He'd outright avoided talking to anyone who even looked like a reporter. He'd barely given his name to trainers he met on the road, and never his hometown.

"Yeah. I've tried once already, but we, well… it didn't work out."

And now he was going to be on TV.

"How prepared do you feel-"

Not at all.

"-for another attempt?"

Wait… oh, right.

"I lost to Glacia," he admitted. "We weren't prepared for the hail." Belated gratitude that they'd glossed over his first attempt, when he was in the same room as the four reigning champions, helped him relax a bit. But he needed that thought to form the rest, so... "Hoenn doesn't have a lot of ice types, obviously, but May showed me a place to help train, and maybe I'll be able to visit Sinnoh sometime." Was Dawn nodding in his peripheral vision? He didn't check. "I think it might be awhile. I want to, soon, but the cold… it didn't bother me _too_ much, but I noticed. It got a little distracting, for me and for Gardevoir."

"Because of your asthma," Gabby explained for future viewers. "Has it caused a lot of problems for you, as far as your journey goes?"

He smiled. "Not as much as people might think. And when I got to Fallarbor, I figured if I could get there, I could get through pretty much anything the road had to offer."

(-o-)

 _Champion Gold, a native of New Bark Town, is far from a new face to the local public. Citizens of Johto can often see the trainer as he bounces from one project to the next, cementing his status as one of the most active champions to date. Aside from region-wide education efforts, it's not uncommon to find him pitching in on the grounds of infrastructure projects, and anything else that could use his help._

(-o-)

As the reporters turned in his direction, Gold vaguely wondered what they could possibly ask about that hadn't been covered a dozen times already. Whereas Red's disappearance had very quickly overshadowed his champion-hood, he'd dealt with all the resulting questions and then some. Besides, if they wanted the newest champion, they'd have to look at Lucas.

"So Gold," Gabby started, "now that it's been a year since you took the title, have you found a lot has changed?"

Well, um… He blinked. "Uh… Not really. I mean, I've gotten a few challenges now, and it's kinda weird being the one people come _to_ than the other way around, but for the most part I get to travel around like I used to, which is really great, actually."

Mary nodded, and lifted her own mic to pick up the questioning. "I can imagine. Part of the champion's job is to help out with major issues around the region, but I suppose that's nothing new to you, is it?"

"I guess not," Gold replied, laughing.

Mary didn't follow suit, but spared a glance at the others, as if to include them in that assumption. As she returned her gaze to Gold, she leaned forward slightly for her next question. "Any sign of Team Rocket since then?"

"Nope!" Gold chirped, then shot a sidelong glance to Crystal, who confirmed with a small shake of her head. No guarantees the interviewers would drop it, but if they didn't… it'd be okay.

(-o-)

 _A previously unknown trainer, Champion Gold cites Silver as his rival, and one of the driving forces along his journey. He was one of many trainers to face Team Rocket in Goldenrod City, having been briefly sighted in the radio tower shortly after Gold had driven out the new leader of the criminal organization and ending the crisis._

(-o-)

Silver might have been scowling as the reporters turned to him, their smiles faltering as they tried and failed to place him. He was pretty sure he did not care. Whose brilliant idea was this again?

Gold was fighting an amused grin on his left.

Oh, right.

"And you are…" The reporter with glasses checked the paper in her lap. Notes, he thought. "…Silver?"

He nodded curtly. "Yeah."

"And…" She skimmed the paper in her lap again. "I heard you were also at the radio tower."

"Yeah…" He replied slowly, fighting down a cringe. Gold was doing the same.

"What inspired you to take up the fight against Team Rocket?"

He stiffened, immediately debating the merits of pulling a Red and shutting down. There was _no way in hell_ he was outing his heritage on a worldwide broadcast.

"I hate Team Rocket," he said, voice coming out steely. Wait - that was just asking for them to ask why. "Always have. They're cowards. I always had the goal of being the str- best trainer, and they pissed me off." Yes he was falling back on old habits – Gold actually was cringing now – but what else- "They just stole pokémon left and right as if that meant anything for them. That whole organization was built on a _lie_ and just because I was headed there for other reasons doesn't mean I wouldn't kick them across the room."

Huh. That was _not_ what he'd said last time.

The reporters had drawn back from the sudden vehemence (the thought of a retake struck him at random), and after a long pause they blatantly changed topics. Had he thought about challenging the League? Really?

At least his solo interview was mercifully short.

(-o-)

 _A member of Johto's Hall of Fame, Crystal – Cris to her friends – claimed victory over Lance shortly after Champion Gold took the title for himself. However, she chose not to pursue the full reigning champion title, and instead spends her time continuing to explore her home region and beyond; although she does assist Gold with his more extensive projects. "Pretty much exactly as [she] was doing before," as she puts it._

(-o-)

Mary looked hesitant to begin their interview after Silver, and opened up with some soft, easy questions. Crystal didn't really blame her.

"I liked challenging the circuit, but to be honest I started my journey because there's just so many other places to _explore_ , you know? There's a line where history and legend starts to blur, and I love seeing what's there."

No bouncing in the seat, she reminded herself, but Mary and Gabby were both indulging her so it was hard to stop talking.

She remembered some of Gold's first interviews, where he mostly talked about his battles with the gym leaders; but that was to be expected, really, since he'd become champion. Crystal tended to go in the opposite direction and talk about everything in between.

Still, there was a part of her that shied away from mentioning her encounters with the unown, much less Suicune. Something about talking about them, in _this_ situation, sat all kinds of wrong with her.

And despite Silver's outburst earlier, the conversation came around to the inevitable.

"Were you at the radio tower as well?"

She paused, sparing a glance towards Silver. He knew, of course. There had been enough time since then to get on at least mostly-friendly terms with each other. She couldn't _not_ tell him, once he'd admitted to who his father was.

"No," she finally said, shaking her head. "I didn't hear the broadcast at first, but I ended up chasing another faction and fought them during the incident."

"Another faction?" Mary asked, prompting her to go on.

They had rehearsed this, the three of them, knowing it would come up at some point. Now was not the time to blow that story; and even Lance had backed them up. Crystal nodded. "Yeah. They seemed pretty defeated. I don't think we'll be seeing Team Rocket any time soon."

(-o-)

 _Although a year younger than Gold and Crystal, both trainers claim Lyra as a close friend and moral support; or, as she would describe it, "their cheerleader". Of the overall cohort, Lyra is the only member to not have obtained eight badges from any region; though it's clear that this does not stop her from being included among the roster, nor from doing what she can in the face of the challenges like those posed to her peers._

(-o-)

"So you turned eleven last year," Mary clarified. "Any plans to follow the footsteps of your friends?"

Lyra was all too happy they'd moved on to better topics. "I did, and…" she hummed a little in thought, "not really." She finished the sentence with a giggle. "Well, I might go for the whole circuit, but I don't know if I'd ever be ready to challenge the League."

"Who do you think you'd challenge first?"

"I have two badges already, actually." She held up her case, Plain and Zephyr badges shining under the studio lights. "My grandparents run a daycare outside Goldenrod, and I visit them a lot, so I won my first badge there. Honestly, I challenged the Violet gym for fun. But like I said, I might go to the others sometime."

"Any plans instead, for now?"

"I've been competing in the Pokéathlon." She flipped her case around to show her skill medal and smiled as she showed it to the cameras.

"And how has that been going?"

"Sunkern is _awesome_." she gushed, and then burst into a fit of giggles. "Though really, it's win some, lose some. The snow throw event tripped us up a lot, but we eventually prevailed;" she pumped her fist, "and we're on a good streak now! Speed course better watch out!"

(-o-)

 _Champion Lucas hails from Twinleaf Town and is currently the youngest Reigning Champion, overseeing the Sinnoh region. Even before his League challenge, he was among the few trainers specifically noted by Acting Champion Cynthia and Professor Rowan as instrumental in the dismantling of Team Galactic._

 _Only a couple months in, Lucas is still settling into his new role; but as some of the Elite Four have noted, that hasn't stopped him from stepping up to the plate with all the professionalism required._

(-o-)

"As the newest champion, how are you adjusting?"

Gabby had taken over again as they turned towards where Lucas was sitting with the other Sinnoh kids. This was pretty different from the typical – just the people sitting here were testament to that – but this question was pretty much inevitable. Still, it wasn't like the fact-confirming questions he'd answered practically on auto-pilot.

"I actually feel better, that it's been done before," he responded. "Takes the pressure off. I'll be honest, I didn't really expect it; but… I think I'll get to like it."

Mary hummed in vague agreement. "If not being champion, then what inspired you to start your journey?"

"Well…" he began, slowly, "Barry and I had kinda been planning on a journey since, um, ever." Next to him, Barry nodded emphatically in agreement. "But… not long before we started, actually, me and Barry – mostly Barry –" His friend rolled his eyes. "– wanted to go look for our first pokémon on our own. You see, we had both just seen that special report. About that team that was looking for the red gyarados over in Johto?"

He caught sight of Gold with his hand over his mouth, stifling snickers.

"So Barry says, well, we have Lake Verity right here, right?"

"And I was all 'we should go find a pokémon like that in our lake!'" Barry cut in.

" _Granted_ ," Lucas said, firmly taking back over, "aiming for a pokémon as rare as a red gyarados might've been a bit overzealous…"

"Was not." Barry pouted.

Gold was trying very hard to not break into outright hysterics. Crystal was on the verge of joining him.

"But it worked out," Lucas finished. "That's actually where we met Professor Rowan, so if nothing else it _was_ productive." Granted, he could've gone without the starly attack, or Rowan lecturing them, and… you know, he probably would've preferred the supervised trip he'd planned on. But it _did_ work out… Dawn cringing at the memory aside.

Gabby smiled. "So you were interested in searching for wild pokémon too?"

And yeah… yeah that was pretty accurate.

(-o-)

 _When asked about their connection, Champion Lucas describes several times he has worked alongside Dawn, not only with the pokédex project but in dealing with the criminal elements of Sinnoh; and like other champions cites her as a much-appreciated source of help and camaraderie along his journey._

 _Although one of the trainers instrumental in the fight against Team Galactic, and another young trainer to have completed the Sinnoh gym circuit, Dawn mostly talks about her work as an assistant to the regional professor._

(-o-)

"My father works for Professor Rowan, so when I was looking for a way to get started working with pokémon, it, um…" Dawn shrugged, for lack of a better way to express herself, "…it seemed like an obvious choice."

Both interviewers were smiling gently. It just made her fidget more. Interviews were _not_ her favorite thing, not that she got many, but… she couldn't have turned down this one.

It was a lot more difficult than Professor Rowan made it seem though. Usually she could just hang around the edges or behind the professor or her dad. She was hardly even on-screen. But now she had to actually _talk_.

She almost missed the next question. "Did taking on the circuit help with your job?"

"Um…" She took a breath to gather herself, but she couldn't overthink it. "It did, yeah. Not just helping me get easier access to certain places and, like, my surf license, but it just… made me feel safer when I was out there. I guess that's sort of the point. I felt better. Um… it was kinda reassuring, with physical proof I could handle it."

"That makes sense," Mary said, nodding. "Is that why you decided to take on the journey yourself?"

"Um… sort of." Dawn rolled Empoleon's pokéball in her hands. "Both dad and the professor suggested I try for at least one or two, since it was good training. After that, and getting mixed up with Team Galactic and all, it just… made sense to me?"

Gabby nodded, and Dawn just knew they'd come back around to that bit, but for the moment she asked, "Did you enjoy it?"

She couldn't help but nod. "Yeah… yeah I did. More than I thought I would, really."

They of course asked her a few questions about how she got involved with the crime-fighting; not too different from a lot of the others. That wasn't so bad, since Cynthia and Lucas both had already made an official statement about most of it, especially the stuff at Mt. Coronet.

But it was still a relief when it was over.

(-o-)

 _A childhood friend of Champion Lucas, Barry claims to be the instigator of "their" rise to the top, something Lucas does not object to, along with the claim of them being each other's rivals. Like the other members of the Sinnoh cohort, Barry was among those to take a very visible stand against Team Galactic._

 _Barry cites his inspiration as a trainer as his father Palmer, the Tower Tycoon of Sinnoh's Battle Zone._

(-o-)

Barry fidgeted in his seat as Dawn finished her solo interview. Why did he have to be last? It wasn't his style.

So of course he jumped right in with both feet the moment he could. Lucas had stolen his thunder on the lake story (he could've told it so much better), but he was all for talking about the rest of his journey (Route 217 did not count).

"I swear I got an adrenaline rush every time I got close to a new gym," he told them. "I'd look at my map and I just couldn't wait for the next challenge." And maybe, maybe Lucas would roll his eyes about him trying to get from Point A to Point B as fast as possible, but he couldn't help it! Though somehow, even running everywhere, he still hadn't beaten Blue's record time. Which he was totally going to point out the next time someone brought it up.

"I love training," he continued, "I love battling, and my team is no different." He grinned. "The Battle Tower is probably my favorite place in all of Sinnoh."

"I can tell," Gabby said, stifling good-natured laughter. "How close are you to challenging the Elite Four?"

"Super close!" he announced, pumping his fist. "Infernape and the rest of my team are super tough now!"

Gabby then smiled impishly. "Are you going to challenge Cynthia or Lucas?"

Barry responded with a very wide grin. "I can't do both?"

Lucas just sighed and sat back on the couch next to him, expression somewhere between amused and exasperated.

(-o-)

 _It's easy to say that their journeys have stood out as unique, that they themselves stand out as something special. It's been noted by gym leaders, professors, champions, Elite Four members, and even trainers on the street that have mentioned them._

 _But what makes them different?_

(-o-)

"So, in your opinion, what about each of you would you consider exceptional, and how did that enable your success?"

The entire group of prodigies turned to look at each other as the interviewers opened the floor to everyone, panel-style.

"Aside from the fact I'm just that good?" Blue replied, earning him a smack upside the head from Leaf. "Hey!"

Gold let out a laugh, but when the reporters turned to him he shrugged, and the studio went quiet for another moment.

"I'm not sure I'd call myself exceptional at all," Dawn ventured. "Um… so I'm really sure how to, well, answer that question."

"My vote goes to drive," May said after some thought. "I think every one of us had something in our heads pushing us forward constantly. Maybe some more than others," she nudged Wally pointedly with a smile, "but still."

"Not to mention how we all got mixed up in trying to solve a problem much bigger than ourselves," Lucas threw in. "I think May's right – One way or another, we looked at what was in front of us and, for whatever reason, just put our head down and plowed through it."

"Yeah, especially with Team Rocket and the others," Crystal said. "We were there, and none of us were willing to just… give up."

"Desperation can do some amazing things," Leaf said, more as an aside than anything, and Red nodded in agreement.

"And that goes for everything else too," Gold noted. "Even when things got hard on the road or in a gym, none of us were going to back down."

"I think there's some talent too," Lyra said, folding her arms and sweeping her gaze across the group. "Like seriously, how many of you were told when you started that you got along really well with your starter even though you just met, or did really well in your first-ever battle?"

A moment passed, and most of the group sheepishly raised their hands.

His own hands firmly in his pockets, Silver huffed out a noise that sounded perfectly sardonic, and then motioned for the next question.

Mary had a bemused smile on her face as she consulted her notes for the next topic. "I'm certain a lot of people would agree that you all are talented, but it certainly couldn't be easy to get where you are now." Seeing nods of agreement, she went on. "What were some unexpected difficulties? Or successes?"

"Unexpected…?" Barry mused. "Kinda hard to pin down any one thing. Sinnoh _does_ have a lot of environmental hazards. You would not _believe_ how annoying it is to be constantly sinking waist-deep in mud on Route 212 even when you're _trying_ to watch where you're going." Beside him, Lucas let out a groan, signifying agreement well enough.

"Yeah," Gold said, "and trying to traverse Route 41 is no joke."

"Not to mention the Whirl Islands," Crystal added.

"…I'm still kinda shocked I beat the Fortree gym, even taking into account needing more than one try," Brendan said. "That pretty much devolved into a battle of attrition no matter what I did."

"I'm surprised I beat the Eterna gym on the first try," Dawn admitted. "Empoleon was still a piplup and had a major type disadvantage. My best bet was Drifloon and I'd barely had him a week."

Blue tilted his head in acknowledgement of her statement. "The early gyms are harder than a lot of people give them credit for. You're a lot less likely to have a team member with an advantage unless it's a really common type if you haven't been training very long. Not to mention limited attacks. You really have to plan with those."

Gabby nodded and cut in at that point. "Any other advice for new trainers?"

"I'm all for building a team you really click with," Gold said. "You and your pokémon are going to be much happier if you do; and I'd even go so far as to say you'll do better." Around him there were multiple nods of agreement. "But you have to balance that with a little bit of strategy. I have several electric-type weaknesses on my team; I have to plan around that. If you find a hole, it doesn't hurt to look for a pokémon that can fill that slot, or make strategies specifically to work around it with who you already have."

"In fact I'd lean towards the latter." Leaf added. "Learning to work with who and what you have will make you a better trainer in the long run; and that applies to everything, not just your team."

"Do some research for the road though." Brendan said. "You and your team are going to have to rely on each other a lot for those obstacles; you can plan for that just like you would for a gym." He sat back on the couch. "And make sure you have someone who can go for help if you need it."

The interview team all turned to Red, who had naturally stayed silent throughout the entire conversation. Put on the spot, he froze, then slowly retrieved a pokéball, Pikachu appearing with the push of a button. Without prompting, the little pokémon scrambled onto his shoulder and nuzzled into his neck.

"Like Gold said," Leaf explained, "you'll do a lot better with a team you can love and trust."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

A bit about this particular entry: I'll just start by saying that making this work on two levels - both in and out of universe - was far more difficult than it had any right to be, especially since it also has to stand on its own with worldbuilding and whatnot. I'm not really sure how well I succeeded. Hopefully I got my main goal accomplished, which was to put up a relatively interesting oneshot that laid out most of the important foundations for the 'verse I'm establishing here. Among other things, there are so many name variations and people in different roles that I wanted to make clear which I was using right up front. (And for what it's worth, Crystal is not meant to be a self-insert, I just didn't think things through very well when I made my username and I don't wanna change it. Basically, we share the same name origin - Crystal version is a game I have a strong nostalgic attachment to, although the original Silver was my first.) Overall, I'm shooting for something slightly more realistic than the actual games, albeit without going into the darker territory a lot of stories that use that label seem it.

I'll admit, going in generation order for the regions was what 'felt right' to me, but as of May 2018 I changed it to go in chronological order (in order to preserve the canonical three-year gap between Kanto and Johto and still keep the kids' ages fairly close I had Hoenn take place between the two), which is what really makes sense from an 'in-universe' standpoint. I also had Brendan's section before May's, which _really_ made no sense but it also felt 'right' from my out-of-universe stance. I finally switched everything around because for this aspect the in-universe reasoning really was more important.

Finding a good ending was hard as well - although when isn't it? I looked at several profile-style articles/interviews and most of them ended with a 'one last question' thing and a quote from the interviewee, so that's what I ran with here.

I hope you enjoyed this not-so-little oneshot here and are interested enough to pick up another entry, whether the next one or one further down the line.


	2. Logistics

**Logistics**

* * *

Lance shoved his fingers back through his hair, surveying once more the paperwork scattered across his desk. Despite what it looked like, he was almost done dealing with the chaos. Almost.

He had not been shocked when Blue had come storming into his battle room. He wasn't blind or deaf after all and the news had been everywhere. Blue was, of course, a prodigy, and the grandson of the great Professor Oak. Even the fact that he'd gotten through the Elite Four and all the way to him may have been unexpected, but not surprising.

The fact that he'd _won_ , however, had thrown him for a loop.

And then Red had done the same. It was debatable if Lance had recovered by then or not.

But it wasn't until well after the two's battle for the championship and Red had been instated into the Hall of Fame that it sunk in what exactly that meant.

The League system had originally been built as a means of protecting the region; seeking out the strongest to be the guardians of the cities, with the champion overseeing all. Then the trainer's journey to challenge the circuit had slowly become more commonplace in the current peaceful era.

And no one had thought to consider the fact that maybe, just _maybe_ , an office meant for an _adult_ who could handle not only the protection but also the political and leadership capabilities the job had grown to require, would end up in the hands of a kid just approaching his twelfth birthday.

The idea to separate those requirements had been thrown around; something considered in the past as the League became as much a rite of passage as an establishment of leadership, but it hadn't been needed until now.

Key words: 'hadn't been'.

Lance had groaned at the thought but had also been the first to take action. In theory, the concept was simple enough: separate the championship title from who was actually in charge. In practice it involved way more paperwork than should have been logical, never mind necessary. It didn't help that the champion _did_ still need to be kept on board in the government itself, even in a limited capacity. The title did still _mean_ something, after all; and if something went wrong (again) it only made sense for the most powerful trainers to be in a position to get the information and respond.

Thank goodness Professor Oak had been on-hand, and even more so that the kids were smart and picked up on the issue quickly once it was explained to them. In fact, both of them had been willing to step down – or in Blue's case had refused to retake the position.

In truth, Lance wasn't sure why he was surprised – both of them were quite obviously trainers and travellers at heart, and then Red had actually disappeared from the ensuing media coverage.

Which of course, had given Lance a headache, but it wasn't like he didn't understand.

(-o-)

They still had to _find_ Red, naturally, but there were also a bunch of issues to sort out over the next few months. When Blue had taken the title, the Elite Four had shifted down to accommodate Lance. Now with them being moved up again, Will could take his place back (Will had been enthused about that actually, being as new as he was).

But even then Indigo Plateau was getting a serious upheaval, mostly because Bruno and Will were the only ones staying. Lorelei, concerned about her native Sevii Islands in the wake of Team Rocket, had left the League to stay full-time there; and Agatha, though she stuck it out to the bitter end, was getting too old to battle effectively. Thankfully, she at least found a replacement: a promising dark-type trainer that had beaten her when she once stood as the last of the Elite Four, even if she had fallen to Lance. Considering the girl had beaten Bruno even with the type disadvantage, she took the final slot. Being otherwise senior, Bruno remained third.

But Lorelei still needed a replacement. Blue wasn't going to do it - 'It wouldn't feel right,' he had said – and Lance wasn't going to argue if only because he'd agreed to fill the now sorely-needed Viridian gym leader slot. Kanto did still need a full circuit.

After a bit of searching, Koga then became the obvious choice, as he was the only one with a ready successor (because there was no way in hell Sabrina would let the fighting dojo take her Saffron). Will was downright shocked when the crafty ninja fought him for the second slot and won, even with the type disadvantage.

It worked out nicely to balance out the regional members: Karen was from Johto, Bruno from Kanto, Will from Johto, and of course now Koga. Lance himself was technically from Blackthorn but basically considered himself from Kanto given he'd bounced in and out of Viridian most of his life. A little bit of both regions, fitting for the champion.

Now all that had to be done was explain to Red the new regulations. Lance had done his best searching both Kanto and Johto, but there was no sign of the kid, and neither Blue nor Leaf had been told where he went either – which was actually more concerning than anything regarding the League.

But then a few weeks later Red had quietly shown up outside Lance's office and requested a private meeting with him.

(-o-)

Despite everything, Red hadn't seemed to mind the concept of taking on challengers. Half the champion's job was spent travelling the region anyway, and with Lance taking on the government work Red had seemed more than willing to accept his responsibility.

Which was why Lance was as confused as he was frustrated that the kid was throwing _another_ logistical nightmare at him.

At the other side of his desk, Red sat mutely, fiddling with a purple and white pokéball.

Well at least he hadn't actually up and vanished on them all as much as Lance had thought, for whatever consolation that was. And challenges at the Plateau weren't exactly common, but…

"Look, I don't mind you continuing to travel as long as you can still do your job, but being completely out of contact and not setting foot in the building for months at a time is not an option."

Red sighed and scribbled out _'not intentional'_ on the notepad in front of him.

And that was taking some getting used to as well – Lance _had_ heard the kid speak during their battle, if only to his pokémon; but not since then. Still, he opened his mouth to reply, though Red beat him to it and added _'the no-contact part'_ to his note.

Lance shut his mouth long enough to rephrase his next sentence in light of this new information. "So the not-setting-foot-in-the-building part _was_ intentional?"

Red grimaced, but wrote out _'Can't.'_

He sat back, folding his arms. "You'd better have a real good explanation for that."

He didn't exactly get a full explanation, but he got enough. There was no way this was the only reason Red wanted the leniency to have _way_ more of an 'on-call' status than Lance would like, but the kid had thought ahead and… it wasn't unfeasible. Anyone who beat Lance as 'acting' champion would get registered into the Hall of Fame as completing the challenge, but every trainer had the right to request the 'reigning' Champion for their Elite Four run, at which point they would have to call Red back in. It might mean having a day or two of break before the final battle, but Lance doubted anyone was going to complain. Even if they did they could always just battle him and then seek Red out if they wanted. In fact, Red insisted on leaving the option to do so, which Lance had been bemused by, but agreed to.

Despite its seeming complexity, Lance could think of a lot of arguments in favor of this setup.

It just meant dealing with yet another stack of paperwork.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Here, have some worldbuilding attempting to present itself as plot. :P

But in all seriousness, this is a good portion of my answer to how the post-game of Pokémon can even exist realistically, when your character can still travel around and basically do whatever they want (though the title defense mechanic in Gen VII is awesome and they totally should have implemented that sooner). Also because if the Pokémon League is also the government, well... I kinda explained that already.

Also, the mental image of people having to scramble because a group of prodigies accidentally took over the world was too hilarious to _not_ use.

Why yes I do write on the lighter side of things, why do you ask?


	3. Trouble Lurking

**Trouble Lurking**

* * *

Violet city at night was surprisingly… appealing, Dawn decided, in a sort of rustic way. The architecture was rather traditional-Johto, though not so much as Ecruteak. And it was so easy to stop and watch the goings-on, though Riolu was poking her enough to keep her from getting carried away.

In her defense, Sprout Tower's pillar was remarkably hypnotic.

Eyes on the small paper lanterns that scattered colored light across the streets, she didn't see the man as she turned a corner, at least until she literally ran into him.

That was the first shock. The next one was the fact that she actually recognized him. "I'm so sorry! I, uh… Looker?" Her voice dropped in volume without her input as she said his code-name. She had never seen him outside of his missions, why would this time be any different?

Looker put a finger to his lips, and jerked his head meaningfully at a nearby alley. Dawn followed his lead without thinking, and stumbled to a halt as she nearly ran into _another_ person, this one leaning against the wall of a building that lined the small passage. A red-headed boy about her age, maybe a little older.

To her surprise she recognized him too, if only just. Gray eyes flashed at her, then at Looker, and he frowned slightly even as he ducked further into the alley and into an alcove out of direct sight of the street.

Dawn was still wracking her brain for his name even as she slipped inside behind Looker, Riolu on her heels. "Uh… Silver, right?" she asked breathlessly as she recovered her balance into a normal stance. As she spoke Looker's croagunk hopped out from behind where Silver was standing and joined his trainer.

Silver nodded, prompting a very distinct _'Oh thank goodness'_ to run through Dawn's head as she then turned to the detective for an explanation.

"So, I see you remember me, however brief our meetings were," Looker said, grinning. "Hello again." He straightened up, clearly projecting as much authority as he could muster. "Now then, since the business of Team Galactic has been concluded, I have started a new investigation. I have tracked several suspicious characters to this very city. The scale of their operations is currently small, but the International Police are very vigilantly keeping watch for escalation."

"In other words," Silver said curtly, "we have another group of psychos with big plans on our hands, we tracked them to a building about a block from here, and it looks like both of us now have been roped in to make sure they're dealt with before we get another Team Rocket."

Looker cleared his throat unnecessarily. "Yes, precisely. Now we are simply waiting for our other ally to give us the signal."

As if on cue, a wooden clatter echoed above their heads, causing everyone to look up at the noctowl perched on the eaves of the building. The pokémon leaned down and cooed softly, before taking off and landing on a nearby light post, looking at them with a tilted head.

"And that is them," Looker announced, scooting to the edge of the alley and glancing both ways before darting back out into the street.

Dawn glanced at Silver, catching his eye-roll before the two of them followed the detective.

A crobat – Silver's presumably – zipped over their heads as they convened behind another building, Looker gazing around the corner and across the street. They were soon joined by a man Dawn didn't recognize, though Silver nodded curtly.

"Falkner."

' _Violet City gym leader,'_ Dawn's brain supplied even as the two engaged in conversation. It made perfect sense, really.

"Are we good to go in?" Silver asked.

"Probably," Falkner replied, motioning to the building in question. "Noctowl hasn't seen anyone enter or leave since sunset and neither have I."

"Which means either the miscreants have all left, or have all settled down for the night." Looker said, rubbing his chin.

"Again, probably. I don't know if they have a basement yet, the building plans don't show one. But I wouldn't be surprised if they started digging." Falkner grimaced. "I'd rather not have that mess in Mahogany be repeated in my city."

He suddenly turned to Dawn, causing her to jump. "And you are…?" He frowned briefly, almost as if he recognized her.

 _'One advantage to that freaking interview'_ , she thought, even as she pulled out her badge case and showed him the eight shiny emblems. "My name's Dawn."

Falkner examined them briefly, then glanced at Looker, who simply nodded. "She is a first-rate trainer. She will be of great assistance."

Dawn briefly wondered when she had agreed to this. But really it was unimportant; she would have in the end anyway.

Returning Looker's gesture, Falkner straightened. "What moves do you have that can incapacitate?"

"Um, thunder wave, confuse ray, stun spore, sleep power, flash," she listed off the top of her head. After a moment of thought she added, "Icy wind if I have to. Psychic as a temporary measure."

"Good." Falkner nodded in approval. "Bring one of them out." Then he glanced down at Riolu. "Keep him out too. If they've gone underground, the more trackers the better."

Riolu's aura sensors twitched in recognition of the implied request.

Dawn reached for her pokéballs, but her hand paused unbidden. Shinx would be the best tracker, and had two of those attacks at his disposal. He would be the most useful, she knew that.

But she already had one unevolved pokémon out, and all three of these trainers were looking at her now…

She let out Roserade instead, the grass-type immediately picking up on the situation and stilling at her side.

Silver's crobat landed on his shoulder, and she jumped _again_ as a creepy grin materialized out of the shadows at his back, the dark shape around it quickly resolving into a gengar. The other two didn't flinch, and Looker reached into his trench coat, retrieving a small radio.

"Stay with us," Falkner told her even as the detective began speaking into it. He tilted his head out towards the street, and after a close look Dawn could see why. Four other people were converging on the building, and as one passed under a streetlight she could just make out what she was pretty sure was a police insignia. There was an arcanine and a magnezone sweeping a little further out, and yeah Dawn didn't want to be accidentally caught in the crossfire because someone didn't recognize her.

Looker put the radio away with a brisk nod, glanced at the three of them, and led the way across the street. A stone clattered down the street and Dawn winced; she'd probably kicked it. No one seemed to pay it any mind though. _'It's not like they would have heard. Really, get a grip.'_

Falkner signaled to the policemen and immediately reached for the doors. When the initial push didn't give way to an opening he frowned, then shoved harder. The rattle of chains echoed from the other side.

"Of course they did," Silver muttered.

Looker was on top of it. "Croagunk, rock smash. Aim for the middle and break the chains."

The pokémon instantly leapt forward. The edges of both doors shattered under the blow, followed by the ringing of steel on the ground as Croagunk's hand continued down the other side. Looker wasted no time kicking in the doors over his pokémon's head and rushing inside, the rest of the group following closely behind.

Even as Dawn entered the building the sounds of a skirmish were echoing through the halls. In contrast to the façade of rustic architecture that matched the rest of the city, the interior of the building resembled something far more advanced. Steel walls and tiled floor made up the vast majority of the space; the only sign of roughness being a hole further back with a rail emerging from it. One that shuddered as something – or some _one_ – hit the other side of a nearby wall.

Falkner muttered something under his breath and rushed towards the hole, Noctowl and Crobat both taking to the air and hovering over it.

Silver leaned forward as he reached the edge. "Crobat." He didn't even have to finish the order before the pokémon dove in, Noctowl right behind him.

Dawn peered into the hole herself. The would-be-basement was hollowed out somewhat, but it just didn't seem that big. She could see the opposite wall from her angle, and no one else's expression seemed to indicate otherwise. Aside from a rickety staircase that she did _not_ want to try if she could help it, the only other things that seemed to be present were some barely-visible support beams.

Riolu's aura sensors twitched, rising briefly, before he looked up at her and shook his head. A moment later, the two flyers exited the hole, settling near their respective trainers.

One look at his pokémon was all Falkner needed. "Clear. That's good." If he intended to say anything more, he didn't get the chance as footsteps sounded around the corner.

Riolu and Roserade both shifted into a battle stance as a group of uniformed people ran into view. Badly-uniformed – even from where she was Dawn could see the hand-cut and sewn insignias on their shirts.

"Confuse ray!" Silver ordered sharply, and both his pokémon surged forward. Dawn shielded her eyes, trusting the others to do the same, but even then she could see the flare of light on the backs of her eyelids.

Shaking off the brief dizziness, she looked up just in time to see one of the men stumble face-first into the nearest wall.

A crackling voice that Dawn couldn't fully decipher emanated from Looker's radio, and the detective pulled it up to place it against his ear. After a moment of listening he gestured to the downed criminals. "We will have to round them up later." He then looked to her. "If you would?"

"Um… oh right." Shoot, she'd said that out loud hadn't she? "Roserade, sleep powder."

With a cry of confirmation her pokémon did as ordered, dusting the whole group in a faint white powder. A little bit strayed towards them on a draft, but was quickly pushed down by the wing-beats of the two flyers.

Silver looked around, his gaze coming to rest on the door they'd entered not too long ago, and tossed another pokéball. "Alakazam." The moment the pokémon appeared he issued his command. "Move these guys out of the way." To make his point clear he gestured to the hole.

A luminescent blue glow surrounded the sleeping criminals, all of them rising into the air and then deposited almost-gently onto the ground below them.

"Get the stairs," Silver said next, then looked up at Falker and Looker. "What?" he asked in response to their expressions, even as the metal was hauled out of the hole, out of reach of those below.

Falkner and Looker glanced at each other for a moment, before mutually shrugging and turning to proceed further in. Silver quickly recalled Alakazam before following right behind Dawn.

Even as she rounded the corner she heard Falkner call out, "Noctowl, air slash!" A hariyama stumbled but didn't fall, and a machoke quickly moved in to cover it, aiming for an obvious cross chop.

"Roserade, magical leaf!" Dawn called.

At the same time Silver ordered, "Gengar, intercept, shadow ball!"

For a split second Dawn worried that they'd interfere with each other, but as Roserade glanced back to her sudden partner she realized it'd be okay.

In the time it took Gengar to float into position the leaves were already slowing the machoke down, the shadow ball merely finishing the job and knocking him out of his jump.

Only when the machoke crashed to the floor did Dawn take the time to take in the rest of the scene. Across the room an arcanine – probably the one she saw before – was squaring off against a medicham, and to her right another criminal had just called out a kadabra. Looker and Croagunk were lurking against a corner to her left, watching the battle warily.

The other criminals were clustered together in the center of the room; and one of them looked at a pokéball in disgust before sending out a tyrogue.

The expression struck her as odd, though she couldn't put her finger on why. Besides the obvious, but she already knew if these guys were anything like Team Galactic they just treated their pokémon as tools. This seemed like something more. But what?

She didn't have the time to think about it anymore, as one of the criminals called out, "Hariyama, knock-off! Get that Gengar!"

Silver wasn't having any of it. "Crobat, cross poison!"

Even as his pokémon moved to carry out the order the boy was looking around before alighting his gaze on Noctowl. "Falkner, the kadabra!" he called out, and looking at their pokémon, Dawn immediately saw why.

Falker clearly saw it too. "Shadow ball!"

Too late. A psybeam blasted across the room and slammed into Roserade, sending her stumbling.

Dawn's cry of dismay was nearly lost under another shouted order, and the medicham turned around to capitalize on the opening. But instead of giving chase, the arcanine's trainer ordered a crunch on the kadabra.

"Air slash!"

Almost before the order left Falkner's mouth Noctowl swung around, sending the medicham to the ground with a heavy blow.

"Riolu, the tyrogue!" Dawn called even as she knelt at Roserade's side. As the little pokémon slipped past the medicham her own teammate was there to meet him, force palm ready.

Roserade glanced up at her and nodded, bringing her bouquets up to signify her willingness to keep going. Dawn returned the gesture and glanced up. "Silver!"

When the other trainer glanced her way she pointed at Crobat and gave her order. "Roserade, stun spore!"

Silver's eyes widened in recognition, and looked up to his pokémon. "Crobat, aerial ace!"

Hariyama was rushing at the flyer for something, but Gengar was ready for it, getting right in his new opponent's face and phasing _through_ the oncoming attack even as the fighting-type startled, before turning back around and smacking him down with a dark pulse.

Crobat didn't hesitate in diving to where Silver pointed, passing through the yellowish cloud of stun spore Roserade released and leaving it trailing in his wake.

"Behind," Silver ordered, and Crobat swept around the machoke's back, between the opponent pokémon and their trainers, catching everyone in the crowd and setting the humans coughing.

Crobat broke free, the wind around the aerial ace appearing to have protected him, and dive-bombed the machoke at Silver's next command, the air slash sending him stumbling further into the cloud.

Riolu and the tyrogue scrambled out of the way, still tumbling over one another in their battle. Seeing the marks on her pokémon, Dawn bit her lip.

"…Reversal!" she finally said, and the blast knocked Tyrogue halfway across the room. Dawn winced at the implications of that, but there wasn't time to get to him. "Roserade, the medicham. Energy ball."

Sparing a quick glance over to the now-scorched corner of the room, Dawn was relieved to see the kadabra had been dealt with, Arcanine's trainer apprehending his opponent.

Medicham psychically deflected Roserade's attack, but her distraction was enough for Noctowl to land a decisive blow. Falkner sent her a nod of thanks and Dawn turned her attention back to the hariyama and machoke. Silver's pokémon seemed to be handling them okay… at least until the hariyama smacked down Crobat and forced Gengar away with another knock-off.

Dawn pointed at them. "Riolu, hidden power; Roserade, magical leaf!"

The two attacks struck home, and with their trainers still succumbing to the effects of the stun spore, Hariyama couldn't recover in time to avoid Riolu rushing in and knocking it out with a force palm.

One sleeve over his nose and mouth just in case, even though the stun spore had settled, Looker moved in towards the criminals, and with another policeman locked handcuffs around the first of them.

Dawn blinked in surprise and then saw that Noctowl and Crobat had effectively dealt with the machoke, with Arcanine making sure the tyrogue was knocked out as well. Some of the criminals were struggling to stand, as if to fight themselves, but a growl from the fire-type made them pause long enough for the police to get their hands on them.

From there it was a fairly simple matter to sweep the rest of the building. Gengar drifted through walls and Riolu's aura sensors were constantly twitching, but there were only a few remaining criminals to apprehend.

The room furthest back was the last, and Dawn blinked at the sight of the heavy machinery that filled the space, interspersed with equipment that made her brain go _'sciency'_ and _'don't touch anything'_.

There was one scientist there, who promptly whipped off his lab coat as the four of them approached. Dawn winced at the sight, oversize muscled tinged a muddled pinkish-yellowish color by who-knew-what.

Falkner opened his mouth to speak, but the man leapt at them, Dawn flinched at the speed, and she heard Noctowl squawk.

The man suddenly let out a cry and staggered back, and she looked up to see Riolu, the last vestiges of a force palm crackling away.

Silver recovered first. "Gengar, hypnosis."

The scientist was soon downed. Falkner turned to them and Dawn's eyes landed on where he held Noctowl in his arms, as the bird appeared to be nursing a wing.

"Good work," he told them, and nodded to Looker to arrest the man.

It was hours later by the time everything was officially wrapped up, and Dawn resisted the urge to sit down when they entered the lobby of the police station. It had to be past midnight, but she and Silver had some unspoken agreement to wait until they were officially dismissed.

Not a moment too soon, Looker and Falkner emerged from one of the back rooms. Noctowl was presumably back in his ball like their own pokémon, or at least sleeping off the wing injury, but Croagunk continued to trail behind the detective, looking perfectly inscrutable.

"Out of morbid curiosity," Silver asked, "what exactly did they think they were doing?"

"Human supremacy, ironically," Falkner said. "We haven't gotten much more than ranting about that out of them so far."

"That…" Dawn paused as a thought struck her, the image of disgust during the battle flashing through her mind, "…almost makes sense of what I saw."

"How so?" Looker asked, appearing genuinely curious.

"Well…" another thought. "Think about the pokémon they were using."

She could see the three of them mentally running down the list, and simultaneously grimacing at the conclusion.

"That would explain the amped-up scientist," Silver admitted.

Falkner nodded. "Police had to move him to a reinforced cell."

Silver's expression twisted in repulsion. Dawn was pretty sure her own face was doing something similar.

Looker cleared his throat. "Well then, it's fortuitous that we have stopped such heinous plans before they truly began."

Silver glanced at her, half-mouthing _"Does he always talk like that?"_

Dawn rearranged her expression to one of resignation and shrugged.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

I dunno; the idea of dealing with a would-be capital-T-Team before they actually got off the ground just popped into my head and I ran with it. The title for this entry came from a list on DeviantArt's 100 themes challenge, which is actually what this project started as. I abandoned that idea awhile ago for this particular collection, but it's still useful for titles when I'm lacking them.

I had such a hard time getting Looker's dialogue in a way I felt true to canon. I might have gone on the more cliché end, but I think it's okay. I'm also probably stretching the suspension of disbelief with Dawn's involvement, but considering some of Looker's lines in canon, and that eight badges is a legitimate sign of competence in this 'verse, I hope it's not too bad.

You know... this might actually be my first attempt at writing out a pokémon battle. Possibly got a little bit in over my head, but that's hardly new.

So... somewhat more action-y than the previous two entries. I hope it works well. Part of the inspiration for the original break-in to a would-be-hideout came from The Chase of the Pokémon Generation miniseries, as well as the idea of how I believe gym leaders are involved with the goings-on of their respective areas (read: a lot more than canon shows). I got to... probably around the time the main battle started and realized I didn't have/need any scene breaks, so I figured _'why not?'_ and finished it without them. I think that might be a new one to me too. :P


	4. New Friends

**New Friends**

* * *

May winced a little as Wally picked up his defeated ralts, looked at her with a smile and _thanked her_ for showing him that being a trainer was more than he thought.

Really, he was going to get the same lesson in either this gym or the next. Ralts just didn't have the stamina to last in a gym battle on her own right now, and Wally himself was obviously still getting used to the idea of battle against another trainer.

But still, maybe she should have thought past her trainer instincts and not used _Mightyena_ to reinforce that lesson.

"Hey…" she started, not quite sure where she was going with it but needing to say _something_ , "you did pretty good. I don't know about an official challenge yet, but I bet the gym would give you some good practice."

Wally's uncle still looked a little hesitant, but smiled down at him all the same. "It's true that there's nothing stopping you from getting stronger. No need to be so hard on yourself."

Wally nodded and returned the smile weakly.

They went to the pokémon center before heading home, of course. May followed them half out of guilt because that really wasn't a fair battle, and half because despite that Wally really did seem happy to see her again.

"May's the one who helped me catch Ralts," he explained to his uncle as they waited for the pokémon in question to be healed.

They chatted a bit, Wally and his uncle both invited her to stop by their house when she went to Verdanturf, and she said she'd probably take them up on that. Verdanturf wasn't… _too_ far out of the way if she recalled the map correctly. Besides, why would she _not_ explore every corner of the region?

(-o-)

One badge and an opened tunnel later, she found herself sitting at a wooden table eating snacks with Wally's extended family. She was a traveller; she'd be an idiot to pass up free food. She also immediately felt guilty for thinking about it that way, but it was true.

"Hey May, did your dad help you get your first pokémon too?" Wally asked, sinking a cracker into what May found was some surprisingly good dip.

"Uh… no, actually," she admitted. "I got Marshtomp as a mudkip from Professor Birch."

"Wow, really?" Wally's eyes were wide and focused on her and she had never heard that much sincerity come through in that sentence, well, ever.

"Yeah…" She laughed self-consciously. "I thought about asking Dad about it, but it ended up being kinda spur of the moment." And as she relayed the story of the poochyena pack and Professor Birch's mishap, she found herself matching Wally's laughter. Of course she'd more or less known what to do at the time – the perks of her father being a serious trainer, not to mention a gym leader – but looking back she felt like she'd been so clueless.

"Turns out Brendan had picked up Torchic just a few hours before, so that was a fun surprise when I got up to Route 103." At her feet, her skitty mewed in what was purely manipulative pitifulness.

May saw right through the adorable ball of fluff… and sighed as she reached into her bag. "You have an unfair advantage," she muttered, even as she held out an admittedly-experimental pokéblock that was promptly devoured. At least that one appeared to have come out well.

Smiling despite herself, she looked back up while Wally was stifling giggles, and returned to the conversation. "Anyway, that was kind of fun." She sat back and allowed Skitty to hop up in her lap. "You know… Professor Birch still had another starter when I left… I wonder how that little guy's doing?" She smiled at him, half a laugh coming out with her words. "Maybe you could take him with you when you get to challenge the gyms."

The brief image in Wally's mind was appealing but he didn't think too much of it. The topic moved on with little fanfare, Wanda cooing over Skitty as she purred contentedly under May's scritches.

(-o-)

Wally barely even remembered what May had said that day until he was sneaking into Petalburg, hoping to avoid his family. His parents were worse than his uncle, and they would freak out if they heard about his trip to Fallarbor.

" _You know… Professor Birch still had another starter when I left…"_

His team had already grown quite a bit. Wattson had showed him where to find magnemite and helped him catch one while he was training in the gym, and he caught a swablu just north of Meteor Falls. And then he got a skitty of his own on Route 116.

But he couldn't help but wonder…

He looked with no small amount of trepidation at the gym in the distance. May's dad probably knew his family. Surely he did. Wally may have been the one to approach Norman, but his family knew he was getting a pokémon, surely they'd talked about it. They lived just down the street from the gym, for crying out loud.

Maybe if Professor Birch said it was okay for him to be travelling…

With that thought in mind he ducked back out into the outskirts of the city, circling around the long way.

(-o-)

Kirlia kept nudging him the entire trip out to Littleroot Town and Professor Birch's laboratory. But he was fine, really. It didn't matter his hands were shaking and there seemed to be a constant cold sweat on the back of his neck. It didn't matter that Kirlia was psychic and specifically an empath, he was _fine_.

Okay, so he might have been in denial.

He only admitted that when Littleroot actually came into sight though.

The town was really less a proper town and more of a forest clearing that happened to have a few buildings in it. Even Verdanturf was bigger, and Wally found himself strangely surprised by that even though he'd just left Oldale that morning. May had mentioned offhandedly that Professor Birch preferred fieldwork, so he supposed it made sense as to why he'd live out here.

Speaking of…

Wally resolutely shoved down the instinct to go hide behind the nearest tree when he saw the white lab coat. Why Professor Birch was wearing a lab coat while wading through a pile of brush, he wasn't sure; though if the intense concentration written all over the professor's face was anything to judge by, it was entirely possible he'd actually forgotten he was wearing it. One of his school teachers was kind of like that.

Kirlia looked up anxiously at him, the pink fins on her head flaring ever so slightly. Wally looked at her, reminded himself that he _needed_ to do this, and steeled his resolve.

Professor Birch had made his way into the clearing and was dusting himself off as Wally approach. "He...Hello, Professor Birch?"

(-o-)

A small laugh escaped Wally as he watched Treecko scale the walls of the lab and crawl around as easily as if he was on the floor. Kirlia reached up where she was sitting and brushed his tail as the little pokémon scurried over her head.

He'd gotten as far as the professor inviting him to his lab when he realized that, even though they'd been conversing for a while now, he didn't have the slightest clue how to direct the conversation where he wanted. It wasn't like he could ask him to talk to Norman while he was here; it would have to be the other way around, if the gym leader asked about it. And as much as he enjoyed meeting Treecko, he was meant for someone just starting out. He wouldn't trade Kirlia for anything, but by extension he couldn't say that he was a beginner anymore.

Even as he thought that Treecko crawled down off the wall, up his arm, and perched on his head, looking pretty pleased with himself if Kirlia's clear amusement was anything to go by.

Professor Birch chuckled as he saw what was going on. "Looks like he likes you."

Wally blushed, reaching up to pet the barely-textured skin that greeted his fingers.

"You should take him with you," the professor said next, and Wally was belatedly grateful he was already sitting down.

"But… isn't he…?"

Treecko climbed down into his lap and began exploring his shirt pocket, followed by his bag.

"I don't get many new trainers down here," Professor Birch explained, even as he moved about the lab space gathering and replacing equipment. "May and my kid Brendan have already taken off; I don't think I'll be getting anyone else for a year or two, even including Oldale. I think the little guy would enjoy the adventure."

Treecko pulled out an oran berry from Wally's bag and resettled in his lap, looking to Kirlia for a moment before helping himself when she smiled at him. Wally was so enraptured by the conversation that he barely noticed.

"Really…?"

"Sure. Kirlia seems happy with you too." Professor Birch smiled as he spoke. "Besides, May mentioned you the last time we talked. I think it'd be good for him to see Torchic and Mudkip again. Or are they Combusken and Marshtomp now?"

"May has a marshtomp," Wally replied distractedly, gathering his arms around Treecko and standing up. "I… I'd love to take Treecko with me. If… if that's okay."

The professor grinned brightly. "Come on then. I'll get his pokéball and we can get him registered to you. You have a license already right?"

He did. He'd talked Wanda into helping him get it so he could train at the Mauville gym. Fumbling around in his bag with one hand he finally managed to pull it out with slightly-shaky fingers.

He cuddled Treecko even closer as he followed the professor, Kirlia right behind him. It was always nice to get a new friend.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Regarding the beginning, I did borrow a little bit from my playthrough of Emerald. As in, I did actually use a mightyena on Wally during this battle, and for some reason did kind of feel a little guilty afterwards.

Not too happy with the ending, but I'm not really sure what to do about it. Maybe I'll figure it out someday. Though I was pleasantly surprised with Skitty's appearance. I don't think my cats are quite as intentional with manipulative adorableness, but I think any cat people in the audience will be familiar with the concept. ;P

Anyway, completely non-canon but _come on,_ every _other_ starter was accounted for. XD I generally keep teams true to canon (when there is a canon version), but this just seemed... really, really fitting.


	5. Silence

**Silence**

* * *

Blue didn't know when Red had stopped speaking to him.

Well, Red didn't talk much anyway. Never had. In fact his mom had plenty of stories about how "shy" Red was when the two of them and Leaf had been introduced to each other when they were two or whatever. Apparently Red hadn't talked at all until they'd started school, and hadn't talked at _school_ for years after. Really, he'd just talked to Blue and Leaf.

He remembered having a conversation when they picked out their starters. He totally was not upset that Gramps had let Red pick first – he could be mature like that (the fact that he could then pick the type advantage was just a bonus; even back then, he was sure Red was more of a threat to his goal than Leaf would ever be). Besides, Charmander was awesome, and the charizard it would become even more so.

He was pretty sure Red had said something when they met on Route 22, the first time anyway. He didn't exactly recall Red speaking when they battled at Cerulean but hey, Red wasn't the chatty type.

(Well, Blue still thought his joke back then was funny. And he really didn't have a use for that stupid thing.)

He watched him disappear around the corner in the S.S. Anne, and the random thought crossed his mind that Red hadn't said a single word in their encounter.

Probably just a coincidence.

(-o-)

Red was definitely not speaking to him by the time they met at Silph Co. Of course, he'd also nearly walked right past him, intent on whatever his mission was. And yeah Blue was thrashing the Rocket grunts he'd come across too once he followed Red there, but he hadn't been able to resist another chance to battle his rival.

He hadn't heard Red say a single word to his pokémon either, but that was nothing new. Always so quiet…

(It was only later that Blue found out that Red had fought the Team Rocket boss that day and sent the whole group running out of Saffron, and Leaf had been battling some of the executives at the entrance along with their backup. He felt kinda miffed; they'd gotten on the news and he hadn't.)

(-o-)

By sheer coincidence he came across Leaf when they were both exploring the Seafoam Islands, and the girl just looked confused when he'd casually mentioned that Red didn't talk, like, _at all_ anymore.

"Yeah he does," Leaf replied. "Or at least he does to me. Do you keep talking over him with that big mouth of yours?"

Blue had been intending to challenge her to a battle anyway, but that little jab definitely set him off.

Leaf happened to win that time, but he just vowed that it wouldn't happen again as he strode away.

(In hindsight, this was probably his first real clue that maybe he'd screwed something up.)

(-o-)

Red still didn't talk to him when he'd managed to take him down in the champion's room of Indigo Plateau. Not to congratulate him beforehand, nor to console him afterward – just as well; Blue _hated_ being pitied. He had looked a touch guilty though, as soon as the initial elation had worn off.

(And nope, Blue was _totally_ ignoring that. Not worth dealing with.)

He left the moment Red was ushered into the Hall of Fame, where he had been just the other day. It wasn't like they had anything to talk about.

(-o-)

And then of course Red disappeared off the face of the friggin' planet for a couple years.

(-o-)

Leaf had been been short with him for quite awhile (and if _that_ wasn't a sign something had gone wrong with their friendship…), but at least she stayed more or less in contact, at least as far as being willing to talk to him whenever they came across each other.

She watched his pokémon when they met up, which was… kinda weird but then again it seemed everyone had changed as of late. Even him – he'd been trying to go back to travelling after everything, but his heart wasn't in it and he couldn't figure out why.

But at least it had allowed him to do a lot of thinking, particularly about his team, which is how he'd managed to shed the last vestiges of his denial of his grandfather's words that day, and why he could admit it to Leaf now.

"I know, I was a jerk to them," he said bluntly, watching the two teams eat somewhere outside of Cerulean. "They're still with me, which I guess means I didn't screw up _that_ badly, but I definitely didn't give them the credit they deserved."

Leaf went quiet for a moment as she contemplated that line of thought, and then looked down, avoiding his gaze. "I have to admit, I was wondering if you were treating them like you were treating us."

That was about the point Blue started wondering if he'd made the best decisions when he'd chosen to pursue his dream at all costs.

(-o-)

Throwing himself into the job of a gym leader had both managed to take his mind off his… 'rival' still, he supposed; and somehow still keep him stuck in every feeling he'd had since that day. At the time he'd considered what he put into it… his way of moving on, if nothing else.

(One day he was going to laugh at that bit of irony.)

Then Cinnabar had erupted, and the gym had been shut down for a week while Blue went to help Blaine manage the disaster.

At some point, that had turned into repeated closings as Blue found himself drawn away from what little excitement he could get out of the few challengers he had. He went back to Cinnabar, then out into Viridian Forest, then to Vermillion, sitting on the boardwalk by the docks.

Eventually the majority of these trips found him at Cinnabar. The newly-desolate island became a surprisingly good place to get away from it all. Even his own thoughts.

Sometimes.

(-o-)

At some point since taking his new position the rare chat with Leaf had more or less turned into the occasional check-in by phone. Blue surprisingly found himself welcoming the calls.

Of course, it also stung, because one couldn't talk about any two of the Pallet Town trio without bringing up the third, even members of the trio themselves. Their childhood was just too tied together. Blue and Red had even put off starting their journeys until Leaf's birthday so they could all begin together, for crying out loud.

He'd never had a problem with Red's name in itself, it just seemed that all that came up in conjunction with it was… their final battle.

To be fair, Leaf seemed to have made the effort to avoid the topic after the first time it came up. Blue snapping at her probably had something to do with it.

Still, she did mention that she was searching for Red, and surprisingly Blue found he wasn't upset by the idea.

"I managed to get him to pick up his pokégear at one point," she told him. "It's not every time, but once or twice, so at least we know he's alive." She sighed, and he could just barely hear her ninetales make a contented noise over the line as she likely pet her. "Still no idea where he is, although it definitely has some terrible reception."

Somehow Blue got the feeling that, forget talking, Red wouldn't even pick up if he called.

But that was fine. He didn't want to call him anyway.

(-o-)

"Good news, Blue!" his grandfather told him over the phone one day. "We found Red!"

Blue just about dropped his pokégear in shock. Red had been essentially lost for a bit over three years now.

He barely heard his grandfather prattling on about where he was (Mt. Silver? What the hell…) and who found him (that kid who beat him a couple weeks ago?), and said his goodbyes and hung up on autopilot.

He lowered the pokégear from his ear and stared blankly at it.

Why did it hurt that he had to find this out third-hand?

(-o-)

Once, they had been the best of friends. Once, they had done everything together. Once, they made a perfect triangle, balancing each other out. Once, they thought they would never separate. Not like this.

And now Blue was thinking it was never going to get fixed again, even with Leaf standing right in front of him in the Viridian pokémon center all but pleading with him to climb Mt. Silver with her.

"I have a job here. Being a gym leader demands a lot of time…"

"I do talk to your sister sometimes, you know." She didn't raise her voice at all, and Blue knew he hadn't fooled her for a second.

He sighed. "Fine. So I could go if I wanted to. I just don't see how going up a cold, rocky, and likely hailing mountain is going to help with… all this." He waved a dismissive hand.

"Red's there."

Blue's eye twitched. "Then why doesn't he come down _here_?"

"Heck if I know," Leaf admitted in an exasperated breath. "But I know you targeted him more than me, and if I had been any more upset with you than I was I'm not sure we'd be standing here having this conversation, you know?"

Blue opened his mouth, felt the words stick, and closed it, cringing.

"Yes, you were that bad," Leaf said bluntly, because the girl could read him like a book.

(He used to be able to do the same thing to both of them. When had that gone away?)

(-o-)

Somehow, Leaf talked him into giving it a chance. The trek was starting to make him have second thoughts though. It wasn't the wild pokémon; his machamp and her sandslash were dealing with them quite effectively. It wasn't the terrain, even though it was a bit harsher than they usually dealt with. It wasn't even what waited at the summit, because Blue was very resolutely ignoring that prospect until he actually _had_ to deal with it.

No, the bitingly cold wind that whipped around them and pelted them with snow and ice was doing a perfectly good job of pissing him off all by itself.

There were probably worse situations to do a lot of introspection in, all things considered, but Blue couldn't think of any at the moment.

' _You_ didn't want _us_ ,' Leaf had told him not too long ago, and he had to admit she was right in a lot of ways. He didn't… _hadn't_ wanted them, he'd just wanted someone he could show up.

Which begged the question of why the heck Leaf still wanted to repair that bridge he'd had Charmander set fire to so long ago.

It also begged the question of _Red_ wanting to repair it.

Blue's teeth clenched as he thought about it. Red _did_ take the championship away from him, but then again how was that a surprise? They had all shared that dream from day one and they all knew it. It was some seriously sucky timing on Red's part, but… he kinda set himself up for it…

Hell, was it even worth letting this go any longer?

Before he found the answer to that Leaf latched her hand very firmly onto his jacket sleeve and dragged him towards the final pass.

Red was facing away from them, and didn't react right away to their approach. The wind was quieter up at the summit, meaning Leaf was easily heard when she called his name.

He spun around, eyes wide, mouth slightly open in clear shock. Pikachu was sitting on his shoulder, and squeaked happily as he bounded through the sparkling snow and straight into Leaf's arms. The girl laughed, catching the little yellow pokémon and snuggling it close. "It's about time we all got together again!"

She looked at Red and her smile faltered, and she gave Blue a split-second glance, shifting so she wasn't standing directly between the two of them.

Red remained still for a few moments, before reaching out somewhat hesitantly.

Blue stared at the offered hand for what felt like forever. Was it really that simple?

He decided to test it and gingerly clasped the cold fingers. A beat later Red pushed his hand into the grip, solidifying it.

"You really need to stay inside more often," Blue commented, causing Red to shrug and smile.

Just like that the metaphorical ice was broken, and Leaf put her hand on top of the other two. Blue looked at the group of hands, then at Leaf, and then at Red. He heard Pikachu make an inquiring noise. (He was pretty sure Red didn't train his pokémon to talk for him, but dang it sure seemed like it in that moment.)

He let a small smirk take over his expression. "You do realize that next time we meet I'm having Charizard drag you off this blasted place first."

Red made as if to speak – Blue couldn't quite tell if he was mouthing a word or not – but a moment later settled for nodding silently, looking vaguely amused.

It wasn't perfect; but it was a start.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Easily my favorite so far, and likely will be for a long while. I'm surprisingly proud of this one; and I hope you enjoyed it. :)

(I like that one-sentence scene way more than I have any right to.)


	6. Legendary

**Legendary**

* * *

The air was still in here, but there was a crisp chill that had seeped into every niche and hollow. The walls shone with an icy sheen, reflecting light from both the entrance and smaller openings higher in the cavern. Somewhere the sound of playful splashing echoed into the main space, faint over the steady din of the waterfall.

A seel briefly poked its head above the water, and just as quickly popped back under. Leaf smiled at the sight, even as she blew on her hands before firmly shoving them in her jacket pockets. Icefall Cave was quite the fascinating anomaly of the Sevii Islands. Already buried in fairly mountainous terrain for such a small island, the high openings trapping cooler wind as it came through, the ice-types that had made their way here long ago had done a lot of landscaping as they settled in and made the place their home.

(Leaf had been interested by the informative sign posted across the pond from the entrance that explained how the place worked, but it was so much _more_ interesting to see and experience it in person.)

It didn't take her long to reach the back cavern, taking a seat on a rock near the edge of the water but very carefully keeping her feet out of it. Blastoise sat nearby – she'd use Dewgong but she'd end up far too low in the frigid water. At least her starter didn't seem to mind too much. The sound of the waterfall was replaced by what she had to assume was the ocean, echoing up from some place even further back. The walls here extended even higher than before, the ice petering out several dozens of feet above her head, revealing the rock beneath. Leaf adjusted her hat to shade her eyes better as she looked at an opening above and the clear blue sky bey-

What was that?

It blended near-perfectly with the sky as it went by, a slightly darker trail in its wake. Pokémon. Had to be. But she couldn't for the life of her think of what kind.

She scrambled to her feet, glancing around. The main entrance would get her nowhere, but there was light filtering in from beyond the pool. A series of rocks out in the water obscured it somewhat, but not enough to hide it completely. "Blastoise."

He was already moving even as her voice shattered the tranquility that had surrounded them. He waded into the water and she wasted no time situating herself on his back. At her direction he headed towards the rocks, and Leaf frowned as she failed to find a gap that would allow them passage.

So when Blastoise pulled alongside two larger rocks she did the next thing that came to mind. With a small tap she signaled a stop, slowly getting first to her knees, then to her feet, just long enough to reach up and hoist herself in between the two. Cold stone bit into her through her clothes but she ignored it, bracing her feet on the rock opposite her and firmly wedging herself between the two.

Then she recalled Blastoise into his pokéball and promptly released him on the other side.

The water turned a bit choppier as Blastoise pushed his way through the waves that broke near the cave opening, and Leaf let out a slight squeak when she was splashed, but it wasn't a big deal. As soon as they'd passed the threshold they swung a hard right, Leaf pulling herself upright next to a rock as Blastoise found anchorage for himself.

She scanned the sky, one hand on her hat's brim. There was no sign of the pokémon, but maybe, since she was already here… She looked up the slope of the mountain. There was no trail, no one had planned on people being here, but yeah, she could climb that.

She shoved her hat into her bag; there was too much risk of it getting knocked off, caught on something, or blocking her vision. Then she pulled a hair tie from where it sat around her wrist, threw her hair into a low ponytail, and found her first handhold in the form of a well-rooted sapling.

She recalled Blastoise with a word of thanks as soon as she was clear off his back and started her trek. She probably spent more time on all fours than she did on two feet to get up, even after calling out Sandslash for his help, but it was worth it.

If nothing else, even if she hadn't reached the highest peak, the view was spectacular.

She sat down heavily and grabbed her water bottle. She had no idea how long she'd been climbing but it was enough to wear her out. The heels of her shoes dug into the slope, the ridge dropping of sharply behind her, but there was no reason to be afraid of falling. Quite a bit of the ridge was level enough for her to walk on, and once her legs quit hurting she stood up to do so.

A bitterly cold wind whipped through her jacket, even zipped as it was. It felt good for about half a second and then Leaf curled in on herself against it. Sandslash shook himself, spikes rattling, and made a curious noise at her as she continued to walk along the ridge. A flash of blue glinted just enough for her to notice before it disappeared behind a cloud.

Her feet led her to an outcropping that she didn't really look at until she was there. It was impossible to tell if it was a well-anchored boulder or truly part of the ridge. It was wind-blasted smooth, she noticed, as she hesitantly put her foot on it and tested her weight, half-expecting it to fall away. It angled upwards as well, but not so much she couldn't walk out onto it – which she did, almost led on by some unseen force.

The atmosphere itself seemed to settle around her shoulders, only intensifying as she set foot on a perfectly flat facet at the top of the boulder. Strange, for reasons she couldn't identify. The breeze had stopped momentarily, allowing the sun's warmth to come through just enough to send a frisson through her.

Another one made her flinch and she instinctively reached up to her nose to deal with the… cold thing that had startled her. Her fingers flicked away drops of water and she blinked in surprise as she registered that.

Hesitantly, she reached out a hand, and a small flake landed on it. It wasn't _that_ cold up here, but…

'… _Snow?'_

Clouds shrouded the sun, not enough to truly hide it but enough to scatter its light. A few snowflakes drifted above, catching the light and shining like glitter. A flash of shining blue dove from above, passing her. And then it swooped and rose.

A blast of cold air made Leaf withdraw her hand, pressing it against her chest. Her eyes closed involuntarily, tears beading up in the corners from the assault, but she quickly wiped the back of her hand across them and turned her gaze to the being that had appeared before her.

Articuno.

Sunlight refracted through icy wings, shining blue and white and Leaf's breath caught in her throat. Ice crystals were thrown into the air with every beat, and the legend stared down at her with piercing eyes.

They locked onto each other for a long moment, everything else still. And then Articuno let out a cry. The voice – a harsh music note – sheared through the air and sent shivers down Leaf's spine.

But she didn't move.

Articuno reared back, wing beats taking it higher; and taking a moment to collect herself, Leaf drew up her stance as well, facing the legend with the proper reverence it deserved.

And she waited.

Sandslash hooked one paw around her leg, mindful of his claws, and pressed against her. Another blast of wind threatened to tear her hair loose from its ponytail. Rather than fight it, she yanked the tie out and followed Articuno with her eyes as it circled her, its streaming tail just out of reach as it passed.

The legend alighted on a ridge above, where the next mountain began, still watching her with those red eyes. Silently, it raised its wings, half-spread, and shifted its feet into something even Leaf could recognize – despite disbelieving shock – as a battle stance.

She dragged in a breath, the thick, cold atmosphere – the sheer _presence_ of Articuno – still weighing on her. Sandslash's paw pressed tighter against her and… no, that wasn't going to work and they both knew it.

Tearing her gaze from Articuno she cast about, looking for ideas. The ridge was narrow, enough to walk on comfortably but not nearly enough to run and dodge as Ninetales would need. No, her partner in this battle would have to be able to take as much as give.

There was only one choice for that, really.

She drew out Blastoise's pokéball before recalling Sandslash, letting her starter out between her and the legend. With another cry that brought to mind the harsh winter wind, Articuno took to the air.

The battle wasn't long. Later that night Leaf would realize that wasn't the point in the first place. Articuno spun through the air, equal parts grace and power, and froze Blastoise's attacks as they came. Leaf, after wracking her brain for far too long about the best approach, ordered a flash cannon. By some miracle the attack struck, but she then had to shout a warning to withdraw and throw herself behind a boulder as ice shards pelted the ridge.

"Flash cannon!"

Her feet scrambled against the slope and she wasn't able to see more than the light of the beams in one corner of her vision. Stumbling upright onto safer ground, she whirled around until she caught sight of Articuno. Blastoise stood at her back, and his cannons clacked against his shell as he refocused.

The freezing wind has picked up, but she forced herself to ignore it, facing down her opponent. Another harsh, almost-musical shriek. Ice beam incoming.

"Focus blast!" It was the best thing she could think of to counter.

She ducked down to give her partner all the room he needed to aim, and the attack shot over her shoulder, impacting the frozen beam with an almighty crash. The shockwave forced her back against her pokémon, but she recovered quickly.

Articuno backed away, hovering for a long moment… then let out a piercing cry. At Leaf's shoulder, Blastoise stood down. Taking cue from her pokémon, she did the same.

She stood tall, only relaxing when Articuno came to rest on an outcropping – the same one, she realized, that she'd been standing on when they first met each other's gaze. Leaf herself stood at the base where the boulder met solid ground.

Articuno examined her, and she didn't look away. The pokémon had challenged her – she may not have had any idea why, but her deference and respect would be expressed in a fitting manner. Perhaps some would think it strange, but… she knew, somehow, that this was what it wanted.

Wings out just enough for balance, Articuno leaned a little towards her. It chirred, a soft, lilting note; and in meeting its gaze, Leaf understood.

The legend had taken her measure, and offered her acknowledgement in its own way.

"Thank you," she murmured. She bowed her head briefly, because she couldn't _not,_ and behind her Blastoise rumbled something of similar sentiment.

She looked up again just as Articuno spread its wings, the breeze of its takeoff tugging at her hair. She watched, tracking the shining stream of its tail, until it disappeared around the other side of the mountain. The chill in the air didn't dissipate completely, but let up some, and the sun touched her face and began to warm her.

If there was such thing as too tired to sit down, Leaf was that. The sense of awe finally fading with Articuno's presence, she looked around herself, wandering to the opposite side of the ridge and seeing only Four Island's shores barely in view.

She should probably start making her way back down. But first…

It was an old tradition, one she only knew about because she'd come across the small shrines and memorials in her travels around Kanto's northern mountain range. But it was… fitting. She found stones dislodged by their battle, and with Sanslash's help carved a marker into the flat surface of the outcropping.

It was small, but appropriate. Her encounter would be marked by a memento on the site itself.

Checking that all the stones were in place and surveying the site one last time, she recalled Blastoise and began making her return down the mountainside.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

This is one of those things where I can only hope I did the image/sensation in my head justice, in this case regarding how legendary pokémon are treated/looked on. Not worship, but reverence; and in the case of trainers, an almost mutual respect. Since strength (both inner and literal) seems to be at least one facet of how trainers are 'tested' (see, for example, the Tin Tower gatekeepers) alongside the bond with your team and your overall character, if a legendary is going to give you its regard, you stand tall and.. own it, I guess. I like to think this is reflected a little bit in canon in the dialogue of certain NPCs, such as Cynthia. I don't think 'pride' is the right word, but it's the closest I can come up with right now.

I also went for a bit more descriptive approach here, while trying not to make it overblown. It's not really my natural style, but it's a skill I've been wanting to work on.

A little bit about the setting too: I actually did a surprising (albeit not too extensive) amount of research trying to figure out how cold I could get the temperature in Icefall Cave and the mountains above _before_ accounting for the pokémon (of course, first I had to be reminded there were actually mountains. :P The official art does show mountain symbology, and the manga has it too). I think I managed somewhere in the low 50's (F), and ice caves are in fact a thing. Google "cold trap caves" sometime.


	7. Odd Jobs

**Odd Jobs**

* * *

The docks in Olivine City creaked under Cris' shoes as she walked along them. Now that the lighthouse was back up and running, it meant ship traffic would pick back up. And that meant that a travelling trainer could run some odd jobs to pick up some extra money.

Most places had some organization that could connect trainers with legitimate job offers. Olivine's happened to be attached to the police department, and they had led her here. Lots of small cargo needed to be moved around and they could always use the extra hands. Or paws. Or wings.

"Doin' alright?" she called to Pidgeot, who chirped an affirmative and swooped down, nearly brushing her hair with his wing as he flew towards shore, some piece of equipment in tow.

A machoke approached her carrying a box nearly as big as she was, and she quickly stepped aside to let it pass. The dock swayed a little this far out, and she'd rather _not_ fall into freezing cold harbor, thanks, but Staryu was trailing her in the water just in case.

The craft she was working with was a small one, of course. Her team wasn't suited for the big ones, not to mention they'd probably reject someone her age even though she had five badges and a surf license. She didn't mind; probably better on all sides.

Thankfully, she mused as she reached the boat, being a port town meant it wasn't quite as cold as it could have been for the season. The captain greeted her return with a small wave but nothing more, busy moving packages stowed in all corners of the vessel into a pile near the dock, where Cris and her team could take them and move them to shore. She helped load up a pallet for her recently-evolved meganium to tow before taking two boxes herself and following her back towards the cargo station.

It didn't take too long to finish, maybe a couple hours, and Cris waved her pokémon off to go play on the beach while she gave the dock manager her trainer card and got payment to her account sorted. A good amount, all things considered; though if she were being honest she still wasn't sure what was considered normal or even good in an objective sense. It didn't matter much; it got her by and she was satisfied with that.

At least she didn't have to save up for evolutionary stones, even though she'd now need two of them for Growlithe and Staryu. Gold telling her the Pokéathlon Dome occasionally sold them for points was the best news she could ask for. It would still take a lot of work, but it'd be a lot more fun. Furret would probably love it.

With those thoughts in mind she went to join her team and kick around in the surf a bit. They'd be hitting the road again before long, but preparation could wait another day.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

I kinda ran out of things to write with this worldbuilding idea (hence its brevity), but I got what I wanted done with it, so that has to count for something. But really, the logistical and cultural implications of the trainer community/culture is fascinating to me. One of the best brainstorming conversations I've ever had started with the question along the lines of "So... how do trainers get enough money to live on in-'verse?" There were many options that combined to answer that question, and this is one of them.


	8. Expectations

**Expectations**

* * *

Sunrise had Indigo Plateau living up to its name, the light fading in from the clouds silhouetting the few people and pokémon that were actually out at this quiet time. Fairly quiet, anyway: it was a small miracle Gold's donphan and May's mightyena weren't making more noise with their roughhousing. The four trainers present didn't seem to mind though.

'Communications between regions' the acting champions had said. That was why they were here, for a meeting due to take place over the weekend.

"Question," Gold piped up, breaking the relative silence. "Not that I mind travelling here, but why us and not the professors, or even the PC managers? They do the communications work."

"They're coming," May replied with a shrug. "But just because we don't understand all this political… stuff… We _are_ still the champions."

Nearby, Lucas stretched out as Donphan and Mightyena broke it up. "And as such," he continued the thought, "we still have the champion's expectations." His staraptor let out a small cry as he landed next to him.

Gold sighed. Sitting on the rock next to him, Red rolled his eyes.

"Did anybody actually know what they were getting into when they hit the Elite Four?" Gold asked, pulling up his knees and putting his arms on top of them. "I mean, I knew I'd have to take on challengers and stuff, but…" He leaned forward to add his head to the stack.

May shrugged again. "They'd already separated acting and reigning champions even in Hoenn by the time I got far enough to think about it." And even if she still had a lot of obligations, that hastily-made division was something she probably owed a lot of averted frustration to. Speaking of which… she looked at Red. "What's your excuse?"

Red's pikachu snorted in amusement. His trainer thought about it for a moment, and then pointed in the general direction of Viridian.

"I believe that translates to 'ask Blue'," Gold said, snickering.

When Red nodded but failed to elaborate Lucas made his own guess. "You hadn't thought about it at all, had you?"

Red was still silent, but looked a touch sheepish.

To be perfectly fair, there was a reason their group was hailed as a bunch of prodigies. The oldest of them was, what, sixteen now? And none of them had been older than twelve when they were crowned; so no one commented further on that line of thought. Besides, they all basically owed him for setting the precedent of an 'on-call' champion, because talented or not, the official expectations were half the reason they all had stepped down; the other half being the desire for travel that had pushed them on in the first place.

"…At least everything ended up working out," May finally said, and there was agreement all around.

Once the regulations had been laid down the process had sort of worked itself out actually. Of course beating the acting champion would get a person registered in the Hall of Fame, but there also seemed to be an unspoken agreement in the trainer community that the Elite Challenge did not _really_ stop with Lance, Steven, or Cynthia.

By another unspoken agreement, one that had amused all of them when they learned of it, calling in the reigning champion was fine with Gold and May (unless one really wanted to hunt them down – the local professors and in May's case her gym leader father could give one somewhere to look). Lucas too, although he also took on challenges in the Battleground and that wasn't a problem either. It wasn't all that common - turned out the trainer community had actually liked the idea of one final wilderness test, harkening back to their roots even if it was in the form of searching for them – but the option was there.

Red, however, was the first; and Red was the legend, the Champion of Champions (they'd tested it); and once he'd been rediscovered you were looked at as a less of a trainer if you did not attempt the Mt. Silver climb.

It was what was expected.

Red had actually found this quite funny, even though it was the source of some of the more… interesting media rumors about him. But hey, it left all of them the freedom to spend most of their time where they actually wanted to be.

Most of their time. Not even Red had been able to get out of this particular meeting, thanks to Blue (how he loopholed out of half of League business was a mystery to this day; not even Gold with all his persistence had been able to get it out of him), and it wasn't long before the conversation came back around to it.

"I still don't understand why they set it up how they did in the first place," Gold said. "Half of the people who become trainers have the dream of becoming Champion; but I doubt they have any idea what that means any more than we did."

"Well, consider the fact that until now the champions did, in fact, know what they were doing," Lucas answered. "Then consider the fact that we live in a world where even the smallest creatures could overwhelm a human. Anyone who could harness that power is a leader, both to their team and to the community." He gestured to Pikachu for emphasis.

"The system goes back several hundred years, from what I was told," May added. "The leaders were warlords that had strong bonds with their pokémon. My dad told me that gym leaders came from the same concept."

Gold didn't have an answer to that, and merely shrugged in acceptance.

"…But even so," May continued at length, "can we just… forget about that for a while? All the expectations, all the stuff we have to do? Just for a few days, can we hang out here and just be normal trainers again?"

Everyone on the plateau, trainer and pokémon alike, were more than happy to take her up on her offer.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** This is one of the earlier ones I've written for this series, although it's been overhauled more than once. I set it aside for awhile to think about how to make it more 'active,' for lack of a better term. Came back to it, had no idea how to go about it, and figured it was good enough to upload. *shrug*

Oh, and a bit about what May says towards the end: in my headcanon Pokémon Conquest is pretty much what the world looked like in the distant past. Basically gym leader = warlord and the champion's position is inspired by the protagonist of Conquest. Which makes the Elite Four... the favored generals that took part in the final battle, I guess?


	9. Test

**Test**

* * *

People would think she'd have an advantage, having seen her father's battle style. Having grown up with him. But really May didn't remember much from the few times Dad had brought her to the sidelines of the Goldenrod gym, and half the things she understood now were only because she now had her own pokémon and had put some practice into it herself.

Besides, everyone could find out the most useful bits of information if they were willing to do a little research. A search engine was not that hard to figure out.

'Collect four badges,' he had said. Well, she had four now. At the time it had annoyed her, sure, but he had taken a moment to explain, however briefly.

'Wouldn't want anyone to say I went easy on you,' he'd said, sporting that wry half-smile he had sometimes when letting down other challengers after their defeat. And logically, May could understand that. Would probably appreciate it later.

Still didn't stop her from being annoyed, then and now. She had _not_ been happy about being told flat-out she wasn't ready.

And her dad, of course, knew the geography and the gyms better than she did. Such that by the time she'd actually collected four badges, and then the whole deal at Mt. Chimney, she'd looped right back around to Rustboro before she knew it. And all things considered, Petalburg was pretty darn close by. How very convenient.

Okay, that actually was really convenient, in a way that she could be grateful for. She'd already taken the long way around, back through Fallarbor and Meteor Falls, as a way to get in some extra training. Her most prominent memories of her Dad at Goldenrod did involve his slaking, after all.

The layout was new to her, although she sort of had an idea from her first visit. Still, nothing she couldn't handle.

 _Gym Leader's Room: See for yourself what pokémon await you._

Thankfully the trainer she had just beaten had taken off to get her pokémon healed at the center, so she didn't feel watched sitting right in front of the final door and applying a super potion to Marshtomp. And if she took a bit longer to compose herself once her team was ready to go, well, there was no one there to say anything.

She faced the door, her stomach in knots. Now more than ever, she wanted to do well. He was her _dad_ , and she wanted him to be proud of her.

Then she mentally kicked herself. Of course he would be proud of her. He had been so happy to see her with a pokémon, even if it was a surprise for him. And he may not go easy on her, but he'd be there for her no matter what happened. Even if he was busy, and devoted to his job, he was still her dad.

And even if she lost, she'd put up a heckuva fight.

But she couldn't afford to think that way. Not now. This was just another challenge, another test. That was all it had to be for the moment.

She opened the door, face schooled into as serious an expression as she could make it.

He was waiting for her. Or, at least, he was waiting for 'the challenger'. His expression said he hadn't known it was her. All the better.

Her façade failed, and she cracked a smile. "Hey Dad~ Guess what I did?" She pulled out her badge case, letting it fall open to display her accomplishment.

He walked over to inspect, and she resisted the urge to hug him. He smiled too, when he confirmed what he'd seen. "Hm… Seems I'll have to fulfill my promise then."

He set a hand on her shoulder for a moment, and then walked to the other side of the arena. "I didn't expect this day to come so soon," he said. (May was totally not smirking at that. She _wasn't_.) "But," he continued, "I'm happier than I can say I can have a battle with my own child, trainer to trainer."

"Don't hold back!" she called over to him.

"You'd better give it your best shot too," he replied, pulling out a pokéball.

May nodded, took a breath, and reset her expression. She had passed his first test; now he was presenting another one. And to pass, she had to win. Just like the last four gym leaders, just like when Brendan challenged her, just like every trainer she'd ever had to face.

She sent out her first pokémon. The test began.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

I see a lot of people who write the Hoenn protagonist as having a difficult relationship with their parents. Understandably so, but I wanted to try a different take where the love really is there, even if they don't see each other as much as other families.


	10. Breathe Again

**Breathe Again**

* * *

The sun had just about set; casting a purple twilight over the misty, eerily quiet spring. Even Dawn's swinging legs couldn't break the silence, as she was sitting on an old pier suspended almost 20 feet above the still water. She idly wondered if the water had ever reached this high.

Across what had been dubbed Sendoff Spring, according to a half-rotted sign nestled deep in the hidden path that led here, was a cave opening resting at the base of a rocky wall. A small grassy shore extended from the dark crevice, almost like it was inviting people in. Ironic, considering that the same sign named it Turnback Cave.

She slowly backed up onto solid ground and walked around the small basin. Small flowers danced in the evening breeze, though somehow the image was somehow not very comforting here.

She vaguely recalled this place, walking out of the cave – no, the portal…? – and to the edge of the spring almost in a trance. Lucas seemed willing to shrug off that part of the incident, understandably content with just the one experience. For that matter, he'd barely explained it to the very confused and anxious Barry once they'd exited the path and thought to call. Cynthia probably knew more than she let on, but didn't seem too sure of herself either. And Dawn… she just had to know.

She aligned herself with the landing below, and Empoleon helped her down the near-vertical slope. She recalled him with a word of thanks, leaving her alone at the entrance to the cave.

Cautiously she walked inside, her footsteps producing a slight echo on the stone floor. Fog blanketed the area, leaving Dawn to nearly walk face-first into an enormous mound of rock in the center of the room. The front side of it was smooth, but had a variety of symbols carved into it from ages past. She almost ran her fingers over the markings, but stopped; some distant part of her mind almost afraid that the ancient slab would fall into dust.

Her eyes dropped below the inscription to a second set of symbols that she could only assume was a translation of the first. The eyes of the carved Unown letters seemed to stare past her and into the thick fog. She barely stopped her breath from catching and set about translating the writing, parts of which were worn away from time:

 _Past three pillars...offer up...to the sleeping...before thirty is surpassed..._

Thirty? Thirty what? Dawn looked up at the pillar. Did this count as the first? She didn't know. Glancing around she located four openings in the nearly-square chamber, not counting the one that led outside. She switched on a flashlight and chose one at random, finding another, very similar space on the other side. However, this one had no inscription or guidance; instead an arrangement of small boulders were scattered about that – after some examination – formed discernable patterns on the floor. She didn't remember this, but she… kind of… remembered the look of the cave. Had the portal simply brought them to the entrance room?

She chose a second opening, the one across the room, and ventured towards it. The fog led her to trip down the crudely carved stairs into a depression in the center of the room, but she caught herself on the boulder there and shook it off, reminding herself to be more careful.

It must have been her imagination, but as she proceeded she could have sworn the fog was getting thicker, and more choking. She automatically started counting everything: rooms, rocks, even doorways, for what little good it did. She passed thirty rocks a mere three rooms in, and since the rooms continued to change, and she didn't seem to be looping back around, she could only assume that wasn't it.

(-o-)

Seven rooms in, she found a pillar with symbols marked on the base, but not deeply carved as before: a single mark near the top, and below it a cluster of seven identical marks. Almost as if made by some ghostly hand.

 _'Pillar one, room seven?'_ That made as much sense as anything. But if it was marked and defined, why did the inscription say she had to get there before thirty? Surely just mentioning the pillars would be enough?

As she progressed further in, the fog _was_ in fact becoming thicker, and Dawn was having a hard time breathing. "Froslass." The pokémon appeared in front of her. "Can you do anything about this?" She waved her hand around to indicate the fog. Froslass glanced around and spread her hands, raising an icy breeze to try and clear it out.

It didn't work, and now Dawn was cold. "Never mind; thanks for trying though." The room settled back to its normal temperature.

(-o-)

Fifteen rooms in and Dawn found the second pillar. Like the first, it had marks lightly carved into it, if that was a thing. Cautiously hovering her finger over the stone, Dawn counted: two above, fifteen below.

Chills raced up her spine for reasons completely unrelated to the cold lingering in the air. She slowly crossed into the next room and her flashlight flickered, its battery almost spent.

In response, she called out yet another pokémon. "Shinx." The little electric-type appeared, took one look around the area, and huddled against Dawn's side. She picked him up and quietly asked him to light up. The star-shaped tip of his tail began to glow, just as the flashlight sputtered out.

(-o-)

Twenty-two rooms in, and Dawn had yet to come across the last pillar. _'Where is it?'_ She was curious now; almost desperate to find what was at the end. And it was now a countdown.

She stared blankly at the three openings set before her in the next room. Suddenly the choice felt... _weighted_. The thick fog wasn't helping.

She dragged in another breath and looked down at Shinx, who was now pressing close to her feet. "Which one?"

Shinx mewled and stared wide-eyed at the options.

Seeing that he would be of no help, Dawn simply made her way to the center of the chamber. Like all of the others, there was a shallow pit there, with rough stairs, and she took a seat on the cold stone. She'd tried mapping as she went – the rooms all seemed roughly the same size, and although it went pitch black for a moment every time she proceeded into a new chamber, it didn't seem like she was walking through any tunnels, or going any further underground. In any case, it hadn't worked: on a hunch she'd tried circling around, taking three left-hand entrances, but the room at the point she _should_ have looped back to was not the right one. For one, the boulder pattern was very different, and there were no signs of movement. For two, none of the shards she'd left as a marker remained, and there were hardly any pokémon around to take them.

Even backtracking and trying other rooms probably wouldn't help, she suspected. For all she knew they all led to the same place anyway, assuming it didn't warp to the entrance or something. That made about as much sense as anything had as of late.

With no way of determining where to go next, her mind, as it so often did, wandered in the direction of simply trying to _understand_. The cave seemed to defy all laws of physics, and even though her pokétch clock was innocently ticking away, it seemed like the moment she looked away from it she lost all sense of the passage of time.

She knew of another place that did that…

' _Time isn't flowing and space isn't stable_ _._ _'_

Cynthia had said that about the Distortion World, back then; and then they had emerged into the sunlight from this very cave. Was this place still warped, even now?

Her head spun with that thought, and she put it down between her knees. Shinx mewled anxiously, and she blindly reached out to pet him. What had possessed her to come here? What had the carvings really meant? What was she supposed to offer up anyway? What was this feeling weighing down on her? What was waiting past the last pillar? Was this why had this cave been named the way it was? Would she ever be able to find her way out?

Was she going crazy?

She shuddered and drew in a shallow breath. Stumbling as she got to her feet, she took a long minute to steady herself… and then picked a direction at random.

Nothing to do now but keep pressing forward.

(-o-)

The pressure was immense. Breathing was getting harder than ever, and Dawn felt awful for Shinx, but she couldn't bring herself to let the light fade. Even knowing – sort of- what was going on didn't help with the dizzying sensations. But despite her feet seeming to be weighed down, despite her hand constantly drifting to Empoleon's pokéball of its own accord, she kept going.

The third pillar, matching marks and all, greeted her in room twenty-seven.

Something tried to claw its way up Dawn's throat as she stared at the faint carvings. A thought that had been circling in the back of her head through the last few rooms suddenly surged to the forefront, given the physical evidence in front of her once more. If time and space weren't stable, and the pillars could show up at any point…

Then if the marks were accurate, _who was making them?_

Dawn came back to attention only when Shinx mewled a worried note and butted his head against her legs. Shuddering, she looked to where the pillar just about vanished in the fog before it met the ceiling. When Shinx mewled again she picked him up, her hand shaking as she stroked his head. She stumbled, just a little bit, as she left the pillar behind, blindly searching out an opening in the room.

(-o-)

She'd faintly, vaguely hoped that the pressure would break when she found the secret past the three pillars. It didn't.

The final – it must be the final – chamber of the cave led down into a huge pit, the center of which rose up into a large mound not unlike the one in the entrance room. For a split-second she wondered if she _had_ in fact returned to the entrance, but no. There was a flat face with what she assumed to be an inscription alright, but it was part of what looked very much like the base of a broken pillar like the ones she'd had to find. There was also a small rise before she would draw level with it. Small details that were not as reassuring as they were probably supposed to be.

Hesitantly, she ventured down.

Shinx whined softly as she approached the mound – monument? – pawing at her arm. It was only a vague sensation in Dawn's periphery, transfixed as she was by the inscription.

 _This is…_

 _That where life sparkles…_

 _That where life has faded…_

 _A place where two worlds overlap…_

Even as the implications began to sink in, the face of the monument darkened. As if a shadow not her own was passing over.

Shinx cried out and shoved his head into the crook of her arm, practically trying to bury himself beneath it. Dawn whirled around, desperately looking into the fog. She could barely see the walls of the chamber, but she saw the shape. A ghostly wing, points trailing down like claws.

The ground shifted beneath her feet, and Dawn bolted.

She just barely caught a glimpse of the floor giving way where she had stood, but she didn't – _couldn't_ – stick around to see the result of it. Her heart pounded along with her feet as she ran near-blindly to the entrance from which she came.

And then suddenly she was outside, her lungs filling further than she remembered was possible; cool, if slightly damp air surging into them. Morning light struck her eyes and she lifted a hand to shade them. Shinx leapt from her arms and shook himself, the light in his tail finally going out. The pressure, no, the _presence_ was finally gone.

They could breathe again.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

This was also written for a theme/prompt that now serves as the title. Apparently I took the ability of 'pressure' that most legendaries have and ran with it.

The inscription in the entrance room is a combination of Diamond/Pearl's and Platinum's variations. I'd love to know what it would actually say if it were whole - I still haven't figured that out. :P


	11. Teaching

**Teaching**

* * *

"Take care, honey!"

"Always, Mom!" Gold called back, fondly rolling his eyes as he left the house. Even after becoming champion, she still fussed after him. Maybe it was just a parent thing. At his feet, Poliwag chirped an agreement as he followed his trainer.

He'd actually swung by the house just to pick up the little guy and play with him a bit, although his mom seemed plenty happy to have a small, cute pokémon running around their home. Lapras had long since replaced him on his battling team, but there was no reason not to spend time with a good companion. Besides, guess who helped him get out into the water to meet Lapras in the first place?

He waited until they reached the edge of town to call out Skarmory, who was _not_ fond of Gold's small-town neighbors gushing over his fairly-exotic self. The pokémon stretched his wings contentedly, and seemed a little disappointed they weren't going all that far.

"We'll do some real flying tomorrow," Gold promised him, which seemed to mollify him as he took off towards Violet City.

Poliwag spent most of the ride burrowing into Gold's hoodie and making two-hundred-percent sure his trainer had a firm grip on him, but when Gold dismounted and coaxed him into looking around, he let out a chirp of surprise and hopped to the ground with wide eyes.

With a grin, Gold led the way to the pond in front of Sprout Tower, and upon coming in sight of the water Poliwag rushed ahead with an excited cry, opting to swim alongside the path until Gold sat down on the small island between the bridges. At that point he promptly set about splashing near the edge, and Gold's grin merely widened as he splashed back.

Skarmory gave himself a thorough once-over, but not long after Gold sent him off to go fly to his heart's content. He'd make sure everyone got some quality time outside later today, but right now he wanted to focus on Poliwag. Besides, Skarmory could take care of himself for an afternoon. Maybe he'd run into Falkner doing some training. He seemed to like the gym leader… well, as much as he ever liked anybody.

Poliwag blew some bubbles his way and made sure he was paying proper attention.

Seeing the little guy's excitement, Gold let out a small sigh of mixed relief and contentment. He'd thought about just heading to Cherrygrove and letting Poliwag play on the shore, but figured it would be more fun to bring him back to where Gold had found him. It seemed like he was right.

The splash fight continued for awhile until Poliwag decided to go explore some of the deeper areas of the pond. Gold watched him go, but soon let his attention wander, greeting the few passerby who passed by on their way to Sprout Tower and back.

It wasn't too long before he saw her. An anxious-looking girl slowly walked past the other end of the bridge, holding a squirming pidgey close to her chest. A couple years younger than him, he suspected, having just received her first pokémon from the gym. She was certainly _dressed_ for travel, but otherwise she definitely didn't look ready.

Well, someone had to approve her trainer's license. She probably just walked out into the beginnings of her journey only to realize she had little idea how her school knowledge translated.

She was smarter than he'd been, in that respect. He'd rushed headlong into Professor Elm's errand and figured out what he didn't know the hard way.

It was a no-brainer to go and talk to her. "Hi there! New trainer?"

The girl jumped, startled, but quickly settled into simple curiosity at a stranger greeting her. "Y-Yeah. I wasn't sure where to go first, so I figured walking to Cherrygrove and back would be good practice."

"That's smart," Gold said, nodding. "Have you ever battled before?"

The girl's eyes widened. "Um, no, I haven't. Are you-"

Gold waved off the assumption. It wouldn't be fair to her and was pointless for him. "Nah, the gym can help you there if you want. What about catching pokémon?"

The girl shook her head. "No. Mr. Earl brought me to the gym and helped me get Pidgey." The little pokémon chirped at the sound of its name. "I mean, I kind of know how but I've never seen anyone do it."

Gold smiled. "Well, would you like a little demonstration?"

The girl's eyes lit up, so even before she answered verbally Gold turned away to call out to his pokémon. Within moments he caught sight of the little guy watching him, probably curious from hearing his voice. "Hey Poliwag! C'mere!"

The pokémon chirped and quickly joined him, and he turned back to the girl. "Follow me."

As he led the way to Route 31 an old memory sprung to mind, of a random traveler demonstrating the use of a pokéball to him and Cris. And sure, it was pretty intuitive to them both, but a nice gesture all the same. Maybe the girl would feel more confident with a direct experience.

Gold smiled to himself. He never did get the dude's name, but at least he could pay it forward now. Things were coming full circle, it seemed.

They were passing the pokémon center before it occurred to Gold to look through his pack and see if he even had the tools to get the job done. It'd been a long time since he'd actually captured a pokémon himself, but sure enough, a little digging as they walked pulled up three normal pokéballs, buried in there long enough that he'd completely forgotten when he'd gotten them. He moved them to his hoodie pocket for easy access later and flashed a grin at the curious look the girl was sending him again.

He didn't bother explaining and instead began scanning their surroundings as they emerged from the guardhouse on to the route proper. "Wild pokémon usually keep off the main paths," he explained, "but they'll challenge you if you go looking for them." He pointed. "See how the grass and everything gets denser and stuff back there in the trees?"

The girl nodded. "That's where all the food and shelter is, so there's no reason for the wild pokémon to come out on the maintained parts, or stay there very long if they're crossing from one patch to another."

"Exactly!"

Poliwag chirped an agreement with his trainer as the group walked into the taller grass, and it wasn't long before they found what they were looking for. Or rather, it found them.

Poliwag squeaked and bounced to the side as sticky string hit the ground where he'd been standing. The girl jumped too, but Gold held his ground without care, instead tracing the attack's path. He tapped the girl on the shoulder and motioned with his head to the caterpie hanging onto the side of a tree, crawling down even as he pointed it out.

"This one's a competitor," Gold said with a laugh as he motioned Poliwag forward. "Okay, now just sit back and watch;" he told the girl, "you and Pidgey both. Poliwag, use bubble!"

The caterpie reared up for what Gold assumed was another string shot, only to wince at the bubbles smacked it in the face. It never ceased to fascinate Gold how much force could be put behind those things. The thought aside, he was struggling not to laugh at least a little. How long had it been since he had a battle this tame?

He told Poliwag to have at and let the two smack each other around a bit while he turned to the girl, keeping one eye on the battle just in case. "So you learned about sleep and stun effects too, right?"

She nodded. "Those help with captures too, right?"

"Yep. Now watch this." He turned his full attention back to the battle. "Poliwag, hypnosis!"

Poliwag got right in the caterpie's face, and almost immediately the little bug-type started swaying, struggling to stay in a battle-ready position. Gold drew out one of the pokéballs from his pocket and expanded it. "You're going to want to practice your aim, but you don't have to throw hard." He demonstrated with a gentle toss, landing a glancing hit on the caterpie's side.

"Wait for the click." Gold said as they watched the ball shake. Once… twice… thrice… and there it was. He walked over and picked it up. "Just like that," he finished with a grin. Poliwag chirped happily.

He held out the ball to show the girl. "Of course, the more you wear it out the easier it is to catch, but you knew that, right?"

The girl nodded, and even Pidgey seemed interested now, wriggling out of its trainer's now-loose hold and perching on her shoulder.

"Here." Gold pulled the remaining two pokéballs from his pocket and handed them to her. He had no use for them, and even if he needed some later it wasn't anything a quick trip to the mart wouldn't fix.

The girl took them and smiled. "Thank you." She looked around and immediately spotted another caterpie. Gold followed her with sight as she rushed towards it, only for the wild pokémon to immediately scurry back into hiding, well out of reach of the pidgey that had just taken to the air. "Aww…"

"Hey, leave that one," Gold said gently, tapping her shoulder to make sure he had her attention. When she looked at him questioningly he just shrugged. "If they don't wanna fight, they don't wanna fight. Let me tell you a little something I've learned while travelling." He gestured with Caterpie's ball for emphasis. "There are plenty of wild pokémon out there that would challenge you like this one did me. It's not fair to you or the pokémon if you're hunting one down that doesn't want to fight. You know the other reason we battle pokémon before catching them?" When the girl shook her head he answered his own question. "You have to earn the pokémon's respect too. Battle's as good a way of doing it as any, if the pokémon rises to the challenge."

As he finished, he released the caterpie – not just out of the ball, but entirely. Sure enough, the little bug-type was still raring to go. "Can't give you what you want," Gold admitted with a lopsided smile. No, he didn't have the patience to raise this one _and_ continue his team's current training. Beside him, Poliwag chirped something that for all he knew was a translation to help Caterpie understand.

However… his gaze slid over to the girl. Well, between her, Caterpie, and Pidgey, they'd figure something out. He glanced up, seeing a familiar silhouette, and raised his hand. A signal.

"Well, that's that. I figure that'll get you as far as Cherrygrove." He scooped up Poliwag. "And hey, since you'll be in the area," relatively speaking, "you should stop by New Bark Town. Professor Elm can have some good advice if you can get him away from his computer." On cue, Skarmory swooped down and Gold deftly leapt onto his back, the pokémon barely even touching the ground as they took off again.

He only glanced back once to see the girl staring after him, and then chuckled to himself and rubbed Poliwag's head. He'd probably never top that exit. Did a good job keeping that air of cool mystery, if he did say so himself.

But who knew; maybe one day he'd see a girl with a pidgeot facing him on Indigo Plateau.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

When I was brainstorming ideas for this collection, I knew I wanted to do a "coming full circle" thing with someone who'd been taught by a random stranger to catch pokémon, choosing to be that random stranger for a new trainer. That pretty much ruled out the Hoenn and Sinnoh kids by default (not a random stranger), and instead I borrowed the dude from the original Gold/Silver/Crystal versions, and Gold just... fit. The fact that he's the Johto champion is just a nice nod to their form of involvement in the original games. :D

Someone mentioned Gold being an optimist to me once and it just clicked in my head, like 'yep, that's exactly right.' I also feel like this is exactly the kind of philosophy he and most of the other MCs would have regarding pokémon from an in-universe perspective. And considering the giant collection of quotes I can make regarding how highly people value working _with_ pokémon and not _around_ or even _against_ them, I'd like to think such a philosophy has a cultural basis. It does in this 'verse. :)


	12. Training Safety

**Training Safety**

* * *

Brendan trekked back onto Route 119 with his head down. Strangely enough, it wasn't raining… yet. For this area every book said to expect it sooner rather than later. It was probably for the best that it was a rare clear day, though unfavorable conditions might have worked for what his plans for the day were. On the other hand, rain was really _not_ what he had to worry about in the Fortree Gym.

Shoving away his circling thoughts, Brendan released his team. Wailmer immediately bounced into the river, ducking underwater and spraying himself and Pelipper upon surfacing. Blaziken and Sableye waited patiently for their trainer, while Breloom eagerly bounced from side to side. Lairon grumbled and shook himself as he was released, still sulking over their recent loss.

Brendan offered him, and by extension the rest of the team, a sympathetic grimace. "Yeah, I know, but that's why we're out here, right?" Lairon snorted, but settled down.

"Okay…" Brendan reached into his backpack and pulled out his notebook. He'd spent a good chunk of last night drawing up this plan. It left him a bit short on sleep, but that didn't matter. If he'd waited it'd be both Lairon _and_ Breloom pestering him over it. Good thing his dad had introduced him to coffee early – and at that thought he reached for his thermos too. "Pelipper, you remember what your counterpart was like, right?" When Pelipper squawked an agreement he grinned. "Alright, you're playing that part. Breloom, Wailmer, trade off against him." With affirmative cries the three of them moved further downstream to begin practice.

"Sableye, you and Lairon pair up," Brendan continued. Sableye looked at his assigned partner with those jerky, erratic motions of his. Never failed to weird Brendan out but Brawly and Dewford's PokéCenter nurse said it was normal. Beyond that, solid gemstone eyes or not neither he nor Lairon looked all that impressed with their trainer's choice of practice partner.

Brendan sighed. "Trust me, I have a plan. Lairon, you did great against Swellow, but that altaria is no joke. You're gonna have to be our tank, and Sableye needs to practice breaking through that team's defenses, and you're the best we have."

That got the two of them to settle down at least. 'Tank' was a role Lairon was definitely used to. Sucked that Brendan was forced to essentially have him take hits most of the rest of the team couldn't, but Lairon took pride in being able to shrug those off and stay standing, so he supposed it was as good a trade-off as he could ask for.

With the rest of the team taken care of for now, he turned to his starter. "You and I are gonna do some speed drills." Blaziken nodded and followed behind him as Brendan began searching out a good spot. "Then I'll grab Wailmer and we'll start practicing switches."

A questioning noise escaped Blaziken's throat at that.

Brendan acknowledged him but called out to Pelipper's group first. "Wailmer, focus on ice beam, and all of you remember the drill if anything happens!" Cries of an affirmative came back in response.

Finding a suitably rocky but not too dangerous slope, perfect for practicing agility on top of sheer speed, he returned his attention to Blaziken. "I'm gonna need you for both the tropius and the skarmory. We don't have electric attacks so fire's our best option. Winona still doesn't know that Wailmer has ice," – he'd gotten knocked out before there'd been a chance – "but I need him for surprising Altaria if possible." Blaziken nodded, used to these strategy sessions. "I'm hoping to bait Tropius first and have him start with grass attacks, or ideally sunny day. But the priority is for you to get off blaze kick and take him down while he's setting up so he can't switch to aerial ace. You have to rush him down as soon as you come out."

Another nod and Blaziken looked down at the slope, spreading his feet and crouching into a ready stance.

Brendan grinned. "Ready, set, go!"

Pokémon and trainer bolted downhill, strafing around rocks and bleeding off the rest of their speed at the bottom. Blaziken, of course, finished far ahead of Brendan, but that wasn't the point. After a few repetitions both down- and up-hill Brendan pointed him at the less rocky area of their chosen track. Blaziken needed the sprints; Brendan needed the agility to dodge stray attacks. It meant that Blaziken could finish three or four runs for every one of Brendan's, but again not the point. He'd probably do better if he had legs that long too. The sky overhead began to darken, and after examining it for a moment he slowed to a walk to finish the downhill run. Last thing he needed was extra risk of slipping and cracking his head open.

The rain was sudden, dark clouds gathering one minute and downpour the next. Blaziken growled in irritation, flames flickering to life around his wrists and dissipating with trails of steam in their wake just as quickly. Shielding his eyes with one arm, Brendan used his other hand to wave him off towards tree cover. "Take a break; I'll go check on everyone else and we'll decide what to do from there."

As the closest group, he started with Pelipper's. If he didn't know better he'd say the rain had gone completely unnoticed. Actually, if anything Pelipper was taking advantage of the excess water he could draw into his beak and fire off pulses that had the potential knock even Wailmer clear out of the river.

Brendan whistled sharply to call a halt and get their attention. "Everyone doing alright here?" Breloom trilled happily in response, ever-cheerful. Seeing agreement from the other two, Brendan nodded. "Alright, I'm going to check on the others, you guys can take it easy for now. Wailmer, watch out for the currents. Have Pelipper bounce you out if you need it."

Breloom playfully flicked some of the mud that was rapidly beginning to form on the bank at him. Brendan chuckled as it splattered over his legs and continued his trek back to the clearing where he left his pack and the last two members of his team.

Without warning Lairon's cry screamed out over the next rise, and he broke into a sprint.

It didn't take long to figure out what happened. The ridge of the bank was broken, Lairon clearly having gotten too close and caused it to slide with the softness of the saturated soil. Unfortunately, Brendan's way of finding this out was slipping as well in his haste to get to his pokémon.

Something twisted his knee painfully and the next moment he was underwater. His back struck a rock, and it was only pure instinct that kept him from gasping and inhaling a mouthful of river water. He spared a brief moment to scold himself as he braced against it to scramble towards the surface, again mostly by instinct. He _knew_ better, he of all people was constantly being _careful_ and telling himself to keep a cool head in just these sorts of situations. No matter how worried he was for his team it didn't mean much if he got himself into the same trouble.

His head broke the surface. "Rope, pack, go!" he ordered Sableye, who broke away from his worried staring at the river and darted for the bag before he even finished relaying the instruction. That done Brendan shook his head, and the world spun for a second.

That wasn't good, but there were more important things to worry about.

Steely hide shone above the surface, telling him Lairon's snout was above the water at least. But as a rock-type, and heavy in general, he was clearly have a rough go of being trapped this way.

"Stay calm. Just hold on," Brendan called to him, feeling around for his pokéball. Flailing feet came to rest against the bank, Lairon putting his trust in his trainer now that he was there.

Finally finding the stupid thing, Brendan recalled Lairon in a beam of red light, only looking towards the bank once he was safely within. The rest of his team had shown up in no time, and a pressure against his side told him Wailmer was there too. The river was too shallow for him to get underneath, but at least they were stable for the moment.

He extended his arm, holding Lairon's ball as high as he could get it. Pelipper swooped down and scooped it into his beak, flying away to deposit it safely on shore.

He lowered his arm and leaned back against the rock, searching for purchase with his feet. Step one of the plan was for one team member – usually Blaziken – to find Brendan while everyone else went to whoever was in trouble. That was accomplished, though not in the way he'd intended. He looked from Pelipper, to Blaziken, to the rope Sableye and now Breloom held.

Blaziken snapped something at Pelipper and the flying-type arced around, heading for Fortree and the ranger station there; the one Brendan pointed out to everyone on his team immediately on arrival, just as he had with every other town. That was good. Blaziken was the fastest at a run, and Pelipper might've been of more help here, but the flyer was the first choice in the plan. He must've taken too long to make the call in his team's eyes.

The end of the rope landed on his head, and Brendan blinked back into awareness. ' _This better not be a concussion.'_ With that thought he grabbed the rope and attempted to fumble through tying it around him while keeping hold of either Wailmer or the rock.

Wailmer's voice rumbled through him as the water-type called to shore. Sableye cocked his head and, having handed off his part of the rope to Blaziken, chittered something before leaping onto Breloom and from there to Wailmer, clawing Brendan's sleeve to avoid sliding off. With dexterity one would never expect from his movements, he helped wrap the rope around Brendan's chest and under his arms, Sableye tying the knot himself. He then clung to Brendan's shoulder as the remaining two on shore hauled him out.

Steadying himself against Blaziken, the first thing Brendan did was recall Wailmer, just in case. The second thing he did was release Lairon to check on him. He immediately spit water on release, but didn't seem to be in any imminent danger.

A few minutes later a stuttering, almost nasally squawk signaled Pelipper's return. Two rangers riding skarmory were on his tail, and Brendan relinquished himself to their care the moment they landed.

"You've got a well-trained team," one of them commented as he noticed the rope and untied it.

Brendan grinned. "Darn straight." Even when he'd lost focus, the time spent drilling the safety plan into his team over and over again had paid off. He should write a book.

And with that sort of inane commentary in his head, he looked over to Lairon, seeing he was under the care of the other ranger. They'd be fine. "Good work, everyone."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

I wanted to do something with either Brendan or Lucas, since I haven't really had anything focusing on them yet. I also wanted to make an entry that tried to present the pokémon as characters rather than backdrop; I feel like I was falling into that trap a bit (and still might be, admittedly). This was the result.

Brendan always struck me as the type to be very safety-conscious. His dad is very fieldwork-oriented and brought him along a lot, but otherwise seems to go out on his own most of the time and - if the incident at the beginning of the games is anything to go by - had a habit of getting into trouble without adequate backup or at least having difficulty keeping calm enough to think. So as I hinted at in Introductions, Brendan went to the far other end of the spectrum.

But it's not like it's irrational. As stupid as I felt certain safety drills are/were in real life, the idea of them is not a bad one; especially when applied to this world. A similar line of reasoning is also why I wrote the rangers in the way I did. The routes on either side of Fortree in particular are quite long and have a lot of uneven/potentially dangerous terrain. Rangers in this instance are often more of the main-series trainer class variety than the spinoff variety, but the principle is the same.


	13. Standing Still

**Standing Still**

* * *

If someone had told him three years ago that being a gym leader would be boring, he would have laughed in their face and brushed them off with an arrogance that even now hadn't entirely faded. And yet, here he was, watching the trainers in the gym practice, absolutely bored out of his mind.

After getting beaten down at Indigo Plateau, Blue hadn't wanted to return to Pallet Town. It would be starting over at square one, and his grandfather would definitely be disappointed in him. Pity him, even. The errant thought made him grind his teeth even after all this time.

So he took up this post as a gym leader; given that the last one was not only exposed as the boss of the most wanted criminal organization, but he was on the run after being taken down by a kid. It should have been laughable. But then, that same kid was now Champion. The fact that he disappeared right afterwards aside.

' _What's Red doing now?'_ Blue was pretty sure he felt his eye twitch at the stray thought. Besides, for all he knew the kid was holed up somewhere and waiting for a challenge, just like he was.

But at least Red had the _option_ of moving.

Meanwhile, Blue was stuck here, waiting for a challenger that was actually a _challenge._ He hadn't had one in... well... since he became the gym leader. Even if the surprise double match courtesy of Elan and Ida didn't throw them off, battling with them was nothing like battling with even the most average gym leaders. Well, Erika had been a piece of cake but that didn't count.

A crash off to his left made him glance over. Nidoking and Torterra were still going at it, but nothing he really needed to concern himself with. His ankle was still wrapped up after a bit _too_ much involvement in his training, which was _not_ helping his mood any. Standing around was bad enough; _sitting_ the entire time was not something he could put up with. He'd ice it again later.

Behind him Charizard cracked one eye open as if he could sense his thoughts. Maybe flying would be some relief next time he could actually take a break.

Technically he could leave, seeing as he had been at Cinnabar a lot lately. Ever since the volcano erupted last year, Blue had found the island to be a great place to get it away from it all until it repopulated. Except for that one kid, he hadn't had to interact with anyone else there, on the rare occasions he wasn't actually alone.

Come to think of it, that kid would be showing up soon. Blue remembered him well: dark hair sticking out from a yellow cap turned backwards and a perpetual grin on his face, followed by a typhlosion that no doubt was his starter. He'd had six Kanto badges at the time, most likely looking for Blaine. Blue had told him he would be waiting. The statement was way more literal than he'd like.

After all, it pretty much _was_ all he was doing here. Watching all the other trainers battle. So far this week none had even made it to him. Case in point, just five minutes ago Arabella's stantler hypnotized an opposing golduck and promptly laid a smackdown while the water-type was too groggy to actually do anything about it. Of course, the trainer only had four badges according to the announcement, and Arabella had just as many. Elan's porygon2 would have a field day if the sucker ever got that far.

Blue's mind briefly wandered back to the kid from Cinnabar. He'd introduced himself as Gold; if Blue remembered correctly he was also Champion of Johto.

That kid looked like he was going places.

Blue was actually a little jealous.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

This is an old prompt-based one (see this entry's title) that I polished up a bit. The duties of a gym leader are actually quite interesting to me, moreso outside of the building rather than what's shown here, but either way Blue makes a great way to explore that stuff. That said this one ended up being more of a character study piece, even if I got to drop in some fun worldbuilding.

Elan, Ida, and Arabella are all from Viridian Gym's HGSS roster. The pokémon I mentioned on their teams are accurate too if I recall right.


	14. Roles

**Roles**

* * *

Lucas always was a bookworm; not even having Barry living next door in such a small town as Twinleaf could change that. Barry _could_ , however, set his sights on the league and drag Lucas' brain to thoughts of adventure and exploration. Barry could also pester him to wait until his friend's birthday so they could start adventuring together, but that didn't take much convincing. He'd already planned on finishing the school year first, so waiting a few weeks more wasn't that big a deal in his eyes.

Taking on the badge circuit was naturally the default decision once they received their first pokémon. Turtwig was more curious than Chimchar, more content to take his time, but no less eager to test himself in battle. Lucas had the suspicion that the starter group did a lot of roughhousing with each other in the lab.

But then Professor Rowan had given him a pokédex, and that added a whole new dimension to his travels. The first thing he did right outside that lab in Sandgem was check Turtwig's registration and get Dawn to show him all the different options he had to take data. Books were, of course, one thing; but this was the _fun_ part of science class all over again and this time he was actually doing something _useful_.

(-o-)

Dawn's father had been working for Professor Rowan even before she was born; she spent a lot of time in the lab because of it. When her dad wanted to introduce her to pokémon, that was where they went. When she started the journey preparation class, she'd fretted, unsure, but her dad always told her that even if she never went it was good knowledge to have either way. And then there were more trips to the lab, showing her the fieldwork gear and maps of Sinnoh and books about traveling.

Following Dad's footsteps and taking a volunteer position at the lab was a choice so obvious it was made without thought. Professor Rowan was scary at first, but he proved to be a good teacher. He'd shown her how the pokédex project worked as a citizen science program and demonstrated it by gifting her that same 'dex.

She'd been officially offered her first pokémon the day before that fateful trip to Lake Verity. She'd played with all of them of course, and ran after the mess they left behind in their more… enthusiastic sessions, but Piplup was the one who had taken to her, and the feeling was mutual. When she met the two boys who'd been entrusted with Turtwig and Chimchar after they'd been able to spend some time together, she was happy they'd been matched up so well.

(-o-)

Of course, as much as the pokédex project interested Lucas, there was no reason to not do both that and the league challenge at the same time. Even more so with the valuable experience the gyms provided; not only in battle but in learning to navigate and think critically to overcome whatever the leader put in their way. Oreburgh gym had been on the simplistic side in that regard, but battling Roark had been an… interesting experience. Starly and Shinx didn't do so well against rock types, but a lucky spark strike by the latter had left a paralyzed Cranidos wide open for Turtwig to bring the match home. The grass type had shouldered the bulk of the battle without complaint, and Starly – by then Staravia – got plenty of action at the Eterna gym.

Traveling around the region offered a lot of freedom. He could go pretty much wherever he wanted, _whenever_ he wanted. But he kept himself to a schedule. It was easier that way in his eyes; always focused forward and feeling accomplished by the end of the day. Blocking out time just to work on the pokédex was a good way of relaxing, no matter what Barry would say about it.

Team Galactic was nowhere in his plans, but really, how could he _not_ step in? It was unfortunate that Gardenia and Maylene couldn't legally do anything about the eyesores that were their buildings in their cities, but when they broke their cover, there was nothing stopping him from helping out Maylene and Looker; especially when a friend like Dawn was threatened by them. Seeing Lake Valor, and the results of the bomb… had only cemented that desire.

(-o-)

The Professor encouraged Dawn to take the league challenge, and it made a lot of sense. The stronger she and her team were, the further they could go, and the less they'd have to worry. Entering the Oreburgh gym for the first time had been nerve-wracking, but Piplup had been right there beside her, reassuring and encouraging and unintentionally making her feel guilty because wasn't _she_ the one who was supposed to be the support and pillar? Piplup had taken the challenge solo and amazed her, but after seeing him into the Pokémon Center she resolved to build a true team so they were that much safer. That had come in the form of having Budew, Drifloon, and Kricketot by the time she reached Eterna City.

Still, wherever she went, it was always with a mission: to look for something, check a monitoring station, add to her pokédex. The gyms ended up being… freeing, in that regard; times when she was able to let go of whatever was next and focus on whatever was happening right then. It allowed for days when all she had scheduled was exploring the routes on the way to the next town.

Team Galactic was scary at first, and when she battled them and came out victorious she attributed it mostly to Lucas' assistance. But over time she felt a sense of confidence facing them down. They had to be stopped, and she learned she had the power to do it. Failing to stop Mars and save Mesprit was a setback marked by regret, but walking up to Spear Pillar, to face them down once more... she believed in her team.

(-o-)

He kept pursuing badges, Barry challenging him every step of the way, but when Dawn showed off her badge case and smiled about it – not acting evasive and cagey like she did about her 'dex – he realized that she was truly enjoying it far beyond his own sense of accomplishment. Even if, so far as he could tell, she didn't seem to realize the difference. She glossed over her projects with Professor Rowan unless he asked about him – which he did, because they were really interesting – to talk about her travels and her team. Not that they didn't deserve it of course. Empoleon, Roserade, Gardevoir and the others had earned every bit of their accomplishments, just like Torterra and the rest of his own team.

When he took the championship against all odds he'd been excited at first. Who wouldn't be? But after a few days he found himself back in Sandgem, talking with Professor Rowan about evolution and other regions and everything else they were doing at the time. Thank goodness Cynthia had followed in the footsteps of Champions Lance and Steven and had separated the job before he'd ever set foot in the League building. It was still a job though, and as fascinating as he found the lab, the pokédex would have to be his niche.

The Battle Frontier provided his next step. Surprisingly, Dawn had beaten him to it, and gave him some serious food for thought on how to balance helping Professor Rowan with his other duties. When he got around to checking the record screens displayed in the Battle Tower, he found she was doing quite well. He just smiled to himself when he saw it, and encouraged her to take on the League soon. If he ever lost the championship to her… he found he'd be okay with that.

(-o-)

Dawn could see every time they met that Lucas had really taken to the pokédex project. That was definitely a good thing because she… well… hadn't. It wasn't that she _avoided_ it or anything, she just… forgot. And of course she checked in on whatever Professor Rowan asked of her, but she found herself looking forward to getting back on the road. More than once she wondered whether Lucas was better suited for her position, because he always seemed interested in what she was doing for the lab whenever the subject came up. It made sense – Lucas was really good at finding rare pokémon like his gabite and houndoom. She had Riolu and Froslass herself but it wasn't the same.

Before she knew it she found herself with eight badges shining in her case, sitting at the top of Vista Lighthouse looking towards the League. Riolu was at her side, occasionally standing in Dawn's lap to see just what had his trainer so interested. It wasn't _entirely_ unheard of to win with a non-fully-evolved team. Red had proven it could be done, and Lucas had proven that taking the Championship at all could be done here in Sinnoh (a fact that she'd sincerely congratulated him for). But she wasn't Lucas, much less Red.

She found herself at the Battle Frontier instead. Meeting up with Lucas again was a welcome surprise, and she told him all about the desert near the Survival Area, the only place like it in Sinnoh and definitely somewhere she knew Professor Rowan would be interested in. When he'd encouraged her to take on the League she reciprocated with asking Rowan about an official position. He'd be better than she ever was, but she was fine with that.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Experimenting with some parallelism. This headcanon has been floating around in my head for quite some time, where, had their roles been determined solely by their aptitudes and not the circumstances of their childhood, Lucas would have been Professor Rowan's assistant and Dawn would have become Champion. But although it ended up not completely fitting the requirements, the fic itself was inspired by the Writers Anonymous Role Reversal Challenge.


	15. Nighttime

**Nighttime**

* * *

Blue stalked away from the service desk in the Cerulean City Pokémon Center after dropping off his team. It was the dead of night, he was tired, and a couple days on Route 4 – however much of a breeze it was by comparison – did not make up for what came prior. Screw Mt. Moon and everything in it; _especially_ the stupid zubats. He'd caught one purely for the pokédex data and then immediately released it because it was useless and annoying and a pest.

And screw Leaf too, while he was at it.

He slumped down into a cushioned chair and rested his head in one hand on the table in front as he stared out the window into the darkness, waiting for the nurse to finish getting his pokémon checked out and treated. There were only a handful of other trainers milling about the waiting area; a few hikers from Route 9 and a handful of kids who apparently had been playing on Nugget Bridge. They could go jump off it for all Blue cared – their chatter was grating on him.

Not a moment too soon the nurse called his name and Blue collected the pokéballs, begrudgingly asking for a key for the night. The key wasn't for a room – the dorms had so many bunk beds that individual keys were pointless – but there'd be a footlocker to store his stuff. With the balls back on his belt and key in hand he headed for the second floor. He absently swung the key around on its cord a bit as he thought. He would be here a couple days at least, so he might as well venture up to the cape given how much people talked up that Bill guy.

A lit room behind thick glass walls gave him pause. Though the hallway was dim, bright fluorescent lights illuminated the computer terminals that filled the adjacent space. Blue leaned against the opposite wall and just stared at them for a long moment. He was ready to just be _done_ for the night, but he knew what he was _supposed_ to do and the thought nagged at him. Between Mt. Moon and the surrounding routes it'd been over a week since he had computer access. If he didn't log on soon Daisy would call and be all _concerned_ at him and Gramps would start monitoring his progress, if he wasn't already, and he'd have to hear about the importance of keeping up with school all over again like he'd never actually left Pallet.

With that thought he caved. One lesson wasn't going to kill him; he could do one or two more in the morning and then take off again.

He pulled up the online academy to cover the obnoxiously cheerful desktop background. The computer lab was unoccupied except for him, so he hadn't bothered scrounging up headphones. And he may or may not have actually paid attention to the teacher on the video. As the presenter droned on his gaze drifted out to the darkness again. Maybe he shouldn't have chosen a window seat, but whatever. Street lights shone as little spots of light illuminating the streets below, but they'd shut off in a few hours to avoid too much light pollution. At least, that's what Pewter did. Some of the big cities like Viridian were moving at all hours.

He hadn't ever really stayed out late enough to see many stars back in Pallet, but the first time he camped out on Route 4 he'd looked up and saw dozens of pinpoints of light scattered across the sky. It was probably the best thing about the trip from Pewter (again: screw. zubats.).

The teacher started summarizing and he dragged his attention back to the screen. He retained just enough to get through the questions afterwards. Not great, but good enough. Usually he'd put in more effort but he'd pick it up by the time the real test came around.

He switched off the lights as he left. Normally the staff would do it but he figured he might as well. Walking past them had woken him up a bit and he wanted to fall asleep sometime soon.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** I seem to catch Blue in a pissy mood a lot don't I?

I spent way too much time thinking about how the education system in the Pokémon world works; because I assume the gym leaders traveled at some point and I flatly refuse to believe they only have a fifth grade education. XD Things just spiraled out from there; go figure.


	16. Pen and Paper

**Pen and Paper**

* * *

Pen tapped paper in a meaningless rhythm that was barely heard over the roar of Ever Grande's waterfall. May sighed and rested her head in one hand, in turn propped up on her knee, wondering how to continue. Despite the volume there wasn't any particularly _distracting_ noise – most of her team was napping in the sun nearby after a… no, not even she could call that play a 'training session'. She had remained undisturbed for some time, but that had to change eventually.

"What 'cha doing?" a voice asked from behind her.

She looked over her shoulder at her new companion, clutching her paper tight against the journal she was using for a backing so that a sudden gust of wind wouldn't take it away. "Writing home. Hi Wally."

Wally tilted his head at that, but smiled and sat beside her. "Not calling?"

"Writing's more fun," May said, smiling back before returning to her task. "Usually I'd e-mail, but I wanted out of the league building." She tapped her pen rapidly against her letter to draw Wally's attention. "You should try it some time."

Wally's face turned solemn. "Yeah, I guess. I haven't contacted home in a really long time."

May's expression also fell at the abrupt shift in tone. "They're really worried about you, you know."

"Really? I never thought they noticed."

"Oh you have _no_ idea." No really, he didn't. Of the two, only May had talked to his relatives in any fashion in the past three months. "Wait…" Another thought struck her and she turned to him with one brow raised. "You really thought your aunt and uncle wouldn't notice you were gone? Not even your cousin?"

"Well, when you put it like that…" Wally squirmed uncomfortably. "I just meant… I mean my parents sent me away, and Aunt Colleen only cared about making sure I stayed inside…"

"You didn't hear them afterwards," May told him; then admitted, "Wanda didn't seem too worried about you, I guess. She knew you had Ralts, of course, but she definitely saw how tough you were on the inside."

Silence reigned for almost a minute. "Wanna battle?" Wally asked, clearly searching for a distraction.

"In a moment. I want to finish this first." May didn't lift her eyes from her half-completed letter. She also didn't bother hiding it or angling it away – it didn't matter to her if Wally decided to read it. He wouldn't, that was only polite, but a part of her kind of hoped he did.

She could _feel_ his discomfort from where she was sitting. Seemed like he really needed that distraction, though for the life of her she couldn't find a good one…

"Hey," she started, a random idea coming to her out of the blue, "do you think that Vito ever writes home?"

"Vito Winstrate?" Wally grinned. "Dunno where he'd get the supplies; he's holed up in Victory Road almost more than I am!"

May snickered. "True; speaking of which..." she dug around in her pack. After a few moments of rummaging, she came up with a second pen and tore a sheet of paper out of the back of her journal. "Here."

Wally took them hesitantly; gingerly. "May..."

"Just write. It'll make everyone feel better."

"But they don't know..."

"Which is _why_ you need to write."

He gave in to her insistence and found a book in his pack to write on. "You think this'll help? With my family?"

May sat back and flashed him a quick smile before she returned to her own letter. "I hope so."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Another old prompt-based one I cleaned up. As far as the lack of communication here goes, my thought was that, well, Wally _did_ basically run away from home in order to travel; I imagine he didn't want to be tracked, or was just plain nervous about hearing what his family thought of the situation/didn't want to be guilted back/etc.


	17. Blood

**Blood**

* * *

Rain lashed against Gold as he stood on the lakeshore, soaking him to the skin where he wasn't already knee-deep in the flood. Off to his left several pitiful treetops swayed with the water and wind, already almost under the violent waves.

He lifted an arm to try and guard his eyes, for what little good it did. Still, it wasn't hard to pick out the source of the storm. In the center of the lake, a blood-red gyarados roared into the sky, its voice carried to shore over the howling wind.

The current from its thrashing nearly yanked his feet out from under him, and he stumbled momentarily. Regaining his balance, he frowned. The Lake of Rage was really living up to its name. "Lapras!" he called, tossing a ball.

The pokémon appeared not far away, struggling for a moment to get her bearings before she looked back at him. Compared to the calm waters deep in Union Cave where Gold found her, the lake might as well have been in a hurricane.

She moved as close to Gold's position as she could and extended her neck towards him. Gold wrapped one hand on the horn protruding from her head, and with no small amount of help he waded a bit farther out to climb onto her shell.

Gold nudged her until they faced the rampaging gyarados. "C'mon, we need to do something about that guy." Lapras looked apprehensively between it and her trainer, the rhetorical question of 'do we _have_ to?' clear as day in her eyes. Gold rubbed circles on the side of her neck, shooting her a reassuring smile. "It's alright; we'll try to make this quick." At his urging, Lapras turned to fully face the red gyarados and pushed forward.

As they approached, Gold reached for another pokéball. He almost called out Ampharos, but quickly had second thoughts. Any electric attack would not only hurt the two of them but every other pokémon in the area as well. Lapras was probably the next best teammate he had.

The gyarados either hadn't noticed them due to blind rage, or simply didn't care for the same reason, but that was going change if they got much closer. Lapras let out a small noise Gold just barely heard, and Gold gave her another pat on the back before rearranging himself – spreading his weight across the breadth of the shell and grabbing two spikes for balance.

"Alright Lapras, let's do it. Ice shard!"

A dozen or so fragments of ice slammed into the back of the gyarados' head. The pokemon roared and craned his neck to look down at them, glaring with eyes of blood. Another roar, and it let loose a ball of fire that flared purple. Dragon Rage. Gold called out and Lapras threw her full weight to the right. He ducked under the blaze, just barely, and nearly got himself pitched into the water for his trouble.

"Ice shard again!"

(-o-)

Lance clutched his cape around his body against the gale, eyeing the thrashing pokemon in the waves. The situation hadn't quite escalated to where his presence was necessary – Pryce was off somewhere looking for trainers and pokémon caught in the flooding – but the gym leader had put them on alert, just in case, so he came to check it out.

His own gyarados surfaced near shore, a subdued growl confirming what he had guessed alongside the scratches that newly marred his scales. Lance thanked him with a quiet word – possibly not even heard over the storm, but the gesture was there – before he returned the water-type. There were way more gyarados in the lake than usual, and they were a lot more aggressive.

The red one was the biggest concern, but the kid seemed to be handling it well. The lapras had confuse rays flaring around the battlefield, strafing through the water as they were fired off. The gyarados dove away, but apparently ran headfirst into a boulder because of it, if the tail-end of a pained roar upon surfacing was anything to judge by.

He shook off the slight dizziness from the stray exposure and took out his pokégear. The seemingly-forced evolution was centered around the lake, so the source had to be nearby. And there was a fake tree in Mahogany he would have thought nothing of in any other circumstance, but which now seemed very suspicious.

Holding the device near his ear, he blindly flipped through the radio channels until an ear-piercing screech made him involuntarily jerk away. Hastily he shut it off. Well, that explained a lot.

He looked back towards the center of the lake. The lapras and their trainer were systematically wearing their opponent down. The pokémon was also still dodging to the best of their ability, but the waves were getting worse.

Because that was when the red gyarados decided to whip up a twister.

(-o-)

' _Oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap-'_

Gold abandoned his position and threw himself forward to wrap his arms around Lapras' neck just as the twister bore down on them. "Surf!" he called, hoping to break the force with the wave.

Lapras cried out as she threw herself into the attack, water rising up and surging forward under her power. It broke against the wind of the twister, pushing into the gyarados slightly, but not enough to prevent the attack itself.

Gold squeezed his eyes shut as he felt Lapras rise beneath him, lifted out of the water and thrown backwards. Something clocked him across the head but he barely had time to register it before they splashed back into the water. He frantically swam out of the way – he hoped – as Lapras righted herself. A tug on his backpack pulled him back to her and he clambered onboard. The rain made his new injury sting, right above his right eye, and he opened his left one to survey the lake. The forest on the western edge was flooded, which explained several large tree branches that were probably ripped up by the twister. He ran his fingers over the stinging area and they came away red – blood.

Lapras had some pretty notable scrapes herself. Gold grimaced at the situation, but he wasn't about to stop now. For all the ferocity of that last attack the gyarados was tiring.

He looked up, meeting the crimson eyes of his opponent. The gyarados roared and lauched itself at them, mouth open and fangs gleaming in a flash of lightning.

Never let it be said that Gold didn't rise to a challenge. A wall of water – courtesy of Lapras – met the gyarados head-on. Gold raised his arm to shield his face as the gyarados crashed through, and he felt the sting of jagged scales against his hand from too-close a call.

As Lapras backpedaled away from the thrashing, Gold slung his backpack around so he could reach into it. He closed his hand around two balls and withdrew them – great balls, the best of what he had on hand. He situated his pack in its proper position, stashed one ball in the pocket of his hoodie, and expanded the other.

"Steady Lapras," he called, readying his arm. Lapras let out a low whine and ducked her head, waiting.

The gyarados circled through the driving rain, heading for another pass.

Gold braced himself, and stared as it bore down; waiting until he was absolutely sure.

He threw.

The red scales of the gyarados turned into red light as it was drawn in. The splash as the ball landed in the water and began to sink was completely inaudible over the downpour.

Gold held his breath, caught himself, exhaled. One… two…

A flash shone up from beneath the surface.

He didn't think, just grabbed the second ball and connected with it just as the gyarados emerged.

One…

Two…

Three…

After waiting for another long moment, he turned to his pokémon. Lapras looked back hesitantly, but complied with the request. She dove beneath, and Gold treaded water, hoping to anything out there that their battle had cleared out the other wild pokémon for the moment.

His relief when Lapras broke the surface with a great ball in her mouth drew out a helpless laugh.

(-o-)

A few minutes later, Gold staggered onto shore, Lapras having managed to evade the other gyarados that abounded in the lake and keep them off their tail. Thankfully they hadn't seemed too interested, more focused on each other than the small human and the pokémon going out of their way to _not_ provoke them. The second Gold's feet hit solid ground Lapras nudged him and with a small, still-overwhelmed laugh he recalled her. The storm had let up some without the red gyarados driving it, but the rain was still pouring.

As Gold turned away from the lake, he startled at the sudden approach of a man he didn't remember being there when he was last on shore. The man has a shock of red hair partially obscured by a hood fashioned out of a cape. Gold had no idea what that was about; just as well since his brain was a little too wired to come up with any remarks about it.

The man held out a small first aid kit. "I borrowed this from the man in the cottage back there. How's your head?"

Gold had sort of forgotten about it. He blamed adrenaline. "Uh… okay, I think?"

The man hummed in an acknowledgement but he opened the kit anyway, shielding the contents as best he could with the cape as he rifled through and pulled out a roll of bandages. Gold hesitated for only a moment before submitting to the treatment, the man dropping the kit at his feet to free up his hands.

"That gyarados was not acting right."

For a conversation opener, it was a strange one. "I noticed," Gold replied, running pretty much on autopilot.

"Did you come here because of the rumors too?"

"That and the guy blocking the gym since the leader was out."

"I see. Someone forced that gyarados to evolve, I suspect, along with most of the magikarp in that lake. I came out here to investigate and saw you battling. You have considerable skill."

"Uh… thanks." Gold gave the man a curious look as he moved on to wrapping up his hand. Then his eyes suddenly widened as he processed the previous statement. _Most_ of the magikarp had evolved?! Flashbacks to him treading water put an expression on his face that had the man looking at him in alarm and hastening to calm him down. After a minute or two of just focusing on the fact that everything had turned out okay, Gold nodded to the man that he was fine.

"I'm Lance," the man said as he turned back to his treatment. He glanced at him for a second, like he was searching for a reaction, but Gold had nothing. After a beat he continued while he taped down the bandages and reaching down for the first-aid kit again. "I'm a trainer like you. And you are?"

"Gold."

"Well then," Lance said, standing up and putting the remaining bandages back into the kit before closing it up, "that should at least hold you until you get to the clinic in Mahogany. I have a few leads on the source of the forced evolution, and I'd tracked a suspicious radio signal back there." He quirked a smile at him. "After you get patched up for real, what do you say to helping me investigate?"

Gold blinked for a second as he processed Lance's request, and grinned sharply.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Just elaborating on a canon sequence, nothing more. It was fun though. The title once again came from the 100 themes challenge lists on DeviantArt.

I'd like to extend a thank-you to the contributors of Bulbapedia for making such an excellent fandom wiki that makes finding many specific references a lot easier than YouTube or replaying the game. I'd also like to thank my beta/pre-reader - my sister - who does great work on the things I send her whenever I randomly decide to do so, including this entry. :)


	18. Folklore

**Folklore**

* * *

They say that the Tin Tower in the east was where spirits awakened, and that the rainbow-hued pokémon that perched at its top shone gold in the rising sun as its fires gave life to those left behind. The Brass Tower in the west was where spirits found rest, and that as the sun set and the moon began to shine, one could hear the silver-colored pokémon at the tower's peak as it sang those spirits to sleep.

They say that the two great legends, once they'd chosen the towers, appeared before the humans that visited and were honored by them. The towers became not only a place to honor the spirits of the dead, but also a place to foster a connection between humans and pokémon.

They say that when the Brass Tower burned, a haunting song echoed throughout the city, mourning those who perished in the fire before the singer's counterpart brought them back. They say the song continued even after the resurrection, now mourning the loss of the bond between humans and pokémon due to fear.

They say that the beasts were born of the lightning that struck the tower, the fire that burned it, and the rain that extinguished it; and that when they didn't race around the land, they found their rest in the place where they fell. A lingering effect of the silver-colored legend's presence, along with a shroud to keep them safe as a last gift.

They say that the two great birds of the towers, and the beasts that became legends in their own right, possessed the ability to judge the character of those they came across. And so they wandered, searching for those that could show not all was lost.

They say that the descendants of the tower guardians sought to atone for their ancestors. Day and night they studied, prepared, and took up the duty to protect the legendary pokémon, to become intermediaries on behalf of humankind. Bells were hung in the remaining tower, made so they would ring to welcome the legends home when they chose to descend once more.

And they say that the new guardians trained, seeking to become people worthy of the legends' regard. Others sought out humans who had bonded with pokémon across the land, in the hopes that one human's heart and soul would help re-forge the connection the towers once facilitated.

So it has been said among the citizens of Ecruteak…

(-o-)

The towers remained dedicated to the two great flying pokémon that had made them their home, but there was a small shrine of sorts in each. The first floor of the Tin Tower held delicately carved statues circled by small columns, dedicated to the legendary beasts in honor of their bond with the one who revived them.

Cris stood in front of the similar memorial in the basement of the Brass Tower's remains, in honor of the site of their resurrection. Which one, she wasn't quite sure. The shrines were quite recent and hadn't been added until after she'd stumbled across the beasts as they slept.

She nudged a stray pebble with her shoe, moving it away from the statues out of some urge she couldn't quite explain. After being chosen and put to the test by the very legends that once found their home in this city, she'd begun searching out the old stories; the ones that were passed down by Morty and the sages and the kimono dancers. The sites were called the Burned and Bell Towers more often than not these days, but she wanted to know the stories from before, when they'd had their original names.

It only made sense after she became so intertwined with them, even though she still wasn't sure how to feel about that. One part of her was all embarrassed pride, that she had been deemed worthy. The other part wondered why her and if there were better options, or at least others (she had a few guesses as to who they might be).

Another, small part in the back of her mind wondered if Suicune still watched her. And then she wondered what it and the other beasts thought of the shift that had been brought about since she woke them up.

The Burned Tower had remained untouched until the present day due to the stigma of so much tragedy. Ironic, somewhat, due to its original purpose, but unlike the tower in Lavender before it had been renovated, or other memorials in other regions, the Brass Tower and even Lugia itself had been – and still were – more associated with sleep than the grim reality of death. Now with Ho-Oh's return and acceptance, there was talk of rebuilding from the remains, in the hopes of bringing back Lugia as well. If so, the shrine here would be moved to the first floor as well to match. There was still some controversy – the fire in itself was as much part of the legendaries' story and Ecruteak's history as anything else – but perhaps one day something would be decided.

She didn't know how to feel about being part of the new stories that were beginning to circulate – she was still essentially just some kid that had wandered through – but she hoped for the best for the reunion. If her opinion was worth anything, she'd like to think the world was moving in the right direction.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Elaborating on Johto's tower legend - because that was _Lugia's tower_ darnit he deserves some mention here! :P I borrowed some elements from the second movie as headcanon, specifically the 'Lugia's song' idea, though it's not necessarily the same song here. I think most of the other headcanon is explained outright, including the shrines and the towers being Johto's answer to other burial sites, even if there's some cultural difference. As for the tower names, I'm not above blending the canon of originals and remakes when it suits me. :)

Legendaries are among one of the many facets of the pokémon world I am fascinated with. There's a surprising amount of NPC dialogue on the subject, and it's kinda cool piecing it together across games.


	19. Broken Pieces

**Broken Pieces**

* * *

So far as Red knew, no one actually knew for sure where he was – not even Lance – but he was starting to think _someone_ suspected, if only because of Leaf's phone calls. If they had an idea then they most likely thought he was crazy for taking to Mt. Silver. As in, literally crazy. He ventured down more than anyone would have ever guessed, but much less than people would think possible in the name of survival.

Red had climbed for the sheer challenge of it, slipping past the guard in the process of dodging the media yet again. Over time, he'd come to appreciate the mountain as the best training spot he could ever ask for, and at some point it began to feel like a second home.

But he'd stayed in the first place for another reason entirely.

(-o-)

 _The first thing Red had done after recovering from his Championship battle and induction into the Hall of Fame was take a boat down to the Sevii Islands under the pretense of thoroughly exploring what he hadn't gotten around to the first time. That was true, but it was also a good way to escape from everyone who suddenly wanted his attention. Professor Oak had known about that._

 _But Red never told him about what came afterwards. What had caused him to vanish for real._

 _He hadn't thought much of the journals at first, when Pikachu had prodded at them while exploring the burnt-out mansion on Cinnabar. He'd read them – what was left of them anyway – and was filled with a hollow sense of sadness. He wasn't sure who or what for; the fate of the writer was unknown. And yet… what might be had haunted him that night._

 _He'd never asked anyone about it, not that he actually spoke these days unless his pokémon needed it in battle. It was pushed aside in his mind soon enough._

 _The writings had come flooding back as he walked out of the depths of Cerulean Cave. The guard there looked startled – maybe he hadn't expected him to return alive. Or maybe it was something else, something that showed on Red's face. What had happened in there… he was sure something had changed._

(-o-)

Even when he'd walked into Lance's office that day with his request, he hadn't explained _exactly_ why he wanted this. Red and his pokémon loved a good battle, and they wouldn't have minded becoming the final battle of Indigo Plateau should someone make it past the Elite Four so long as he still got to travel. Given how rare Elite challengers were and how few got through all four in the first place, that would've been simple to have even _with_ all the political duties that came with the position (or had, before Lance fixed things up so he wouldn't be in over his head on that front).

Lance must've seen something in his expression though, because he bent a lot of rules for him. Not just reforming the League around his general absence, but some of the more basic trainer rules. Like only having six pokémon.

Six was a number established as a sensible balance between the variety needed to adapt to environmental conditions, and the limited size a trainer could reasonably care for at once. There was some historical basis too, but Red forgot what it was. In any case, so long as Red only had six 'registered battlers' for challenges, he had the leniency to keep a few more with him.

He'd at least told Lance he would probably be in a dangerous place, which was true. Whatever Lance believed his reasoning to be – training would be the most likely assumption – he'd given the go-ahead to have a safety net for travelers seeking him out.

Even now Lapras was swimming among the falls within the cave below, and Aerodactyl was flying around in the mid- to lower reaches of the mountainside. They were mostly left to their own devices, though Red made a point to visit, train, and generally just spend time with them on a regular basis. If something were to happen to a climber – and there _were_ people who tried even if they had no idea of his presence – Red trusted their ability to keep the victim safe and get them back down if possible. (Plus, it was just nice to be able to keep his main battling team with him and still spend time with his other friends.)

That was one reason Red had asked Lance to lift the restriction enforced through the PC system and his trainer license. The other one lay within the purple and white ball he currently held in his hands.

(-o-)

 _He'd explored every nook and cranny in Kanto while on his journey, making sure to cover every route because he could. He'd even visited the abandoned power plant, chasing rumors that trickled his way; though that was another story entirely._

 _There was just one place left, one that had its own League guard preventing entry to anyone who wasn't strong enough: the wild pokémon in the cave were on the order of those at Mt. Silver, supposedly. The original requirement was eight badges, but according to the guard when Red first approached him, even further restrictions were put in place not too long before._ Something _had appeared in that cave; something concerning, but something no one had been able to identify. The Elite Four and Champion were still permitted access, but given most of the information was hearsay and vague rumors, no one had made a plan of action yet._

 _Of course, then Red became Champion._

 _He was stocking up in the local mart for a couple days of spelunking when Espeon's pokéball began shaking on his belt. He paid for his things and hastily departed; letting her out the second he was out the door. She had only recently evolved, during his second trip to Sevii, but she was rapidly becoming a steady and reliable member of his main battlers. And Red knew just enough about her potential psychic powers to guess something had happened when she began insistently tugging him towards the pokémon center._

 _Even knowing that he still had expected anything_ but _Espeon pulling him over to the bank of PCs, grabbing her own pokéball with psychic power, and setting it on the transporter._

 _He'd taught his team some signs, but they mostly pertained to battling. Espeon of course immediately picked up on his surprise and hesitation, quickly bridging the gap with telepathy._

' _Scared?'_

 _Espeon shook her head._

' _Switch?' Maybe she had someone particular in mind._

 _Another shake, and now Red was_ really _confused. But then Espeon looked pointedly at his belt. Images flashed in his mind: five pokéballs. But only five._

 _Red closed his eyes, focusing on the image and adding a sixth ball._

 _Espeon promptly removed it._

 _He needed five, and_ only _five, on his team._

 _It made no sense at all, and Red couldn't imagine what it might be. Unfortunately, there were limits to telepathy. Espeon had no idea how to truly communicate in the human language; and though she did her best to explain, the images, emotions, and impressions gave him pretty much nothing._

 _Everything Red knew railed against the idea, especially going into such a dangerous place, but Espeon was so insistent…_

 _Sabrina had once explained to him that some psychics could see the future. Maybe that had something to do with it?_

 _Red opened his eyes and, after a long moment of consideration, very deliberately nodded at Espeon. 'Okay. I trust you.'_

(-o-)

Espeon was standing next to him now, uncaring of the snowy breeze that twined around the two of them at the summit. Future-seeing or otherwise, she had been right that day. Red could not trust the master ball with anyone except himself now that he had used it. Even more so given that Professor Oak or whoever else was on the receiving end of the automatic PC transfer would've had no warning.

They were both staring at the master ball, though Red at least wasn't truly _seeing_ it. He was thinking, looking past it, almost as if he could communicate with the pokémon on the inside.

Of course, he couldn't; not really. And Espeon was invaluable specifically _because_ of the dangers of doing so. He'd learned that the hard way.

He thought about letting it out here, but after surveying the summit he decided it was too risky. With a quick glance at his companion he turned and walked down the path towards the interior caverns of the mountain. Bypassing the small, hidden cave he'd set up as camp, he and Espeon worked their way further in. The chamber where they ended up was still near the summit, but as far into the depths as Red could readily find. Espeon continued forward a few paces towards a wall and turned back to face him as she sat, mewing quietly to signal she was ready.

He then released the rest of his rest of his team. Pikachu took one look at the place and immediately figured out what they were doing, bounding away to crouch opposite of Espeon. Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise rumbled collectively as they too began forming a loose circle around the chamber.

Red deliberately released Snorlax behind him, to block off the sole entrance to the cave. The pokémon was already well awake and raring to go (something that had shocked every trainer in Victory Road – Red had found this hilarious).

Though even if Snorlax was somehow bypassed, there was another reason Mt. Silver was perfect for Red's purposes. The wild pokémon were as strong as those in Cerulean Cave, but on top of that many were the likes of steelix, tyranitar, sneasel, and misdreavus. Red didn't want to _rely_ on the wild pokémon by any means, but they would be able to hold their own if an escape attempt was made.

From what he knew, it was unlikely, but Red couldn't help but be concerned by that possibility.

(-o-)

 _Pikachu and Blastoise were both already out when they and Red arrived on that fateful outcropping deep in Cerulean Cave. It was only an instinctive thunderbolt from the former that saved him from a full-force psychic attack. The creature that met them was nothing like Red had ever seen, and let out a sound he didn't know how to describe as its eyes glowed blue once more._

 _He signaled for a quick attack and Blastoise stepped in front of him, hunching over to protect his abdomen, and provide stability as he fired off a hydro pump._

 _Normally Red wouldn't pull a two-on-one; he hadn't even intended it this time. But the choice was taken out of his hands and he'd admit that by the end of everything it had been necessary if they'd wanted to make it out alive._

 _It had taken all five members of his team to subdue the pokémon. Pikachu had resorted to hit-and-run in a way that hadn't been necessary since Fuchsia Gym, alternating between quick attacks and thunderbolts whenever there was an opening. As the battle progressed it became much more of the latter than the former, because every time he tried to approach he bounced off a barrier the wild pokémon had thrown up. Most of the time that resulted in the little mouse slamming into a rock from the retaliation._

 _Blastoise staggered as he continually adjusted his aim, continuing to shield both Red and now Venusaur, whose typing was far from ideal for the situation but whose sleep powder was an absolute necessity. Red had multiple full restores on hand because of the rumors, but the healing wasn't going to outpace the damage and he knew it._

 _So far the sleep powder had yet to take a solid hold, and quite a bit was being burned off in literal crossfire from Charizard spewing flamethrowers to counter seemingly never-ending swift rays. Red had commanded him to fly and stay above the battlefield, hoping that would keep him as safe as the pitched battle allowed. But shortly after the creature demonstrated the ability to fly itself, and it was only a lucky slash that allowed Charizard to send it to the ground again._

 _It was Snorlax who finally landed the first real hit, charging in with none of the hesitation Red had when he'd signaled for it. And being hit by several hundred pounds of snorlax in a full-on body slam was no joke. Even with the barrier, the wild pokémon staggered heavily as it got to its feet, and the next attack came out much slower than the ones before, as if it were struggling to concentrate._

 _Red noted this before noting that the attack was aimed at_ him _, not his pokémon. And he reason he could see it was that had moved away from Blastoise somewhere in there to get a better view of the battlefield._

 _He hit the water before he'd registered hitting the rock. Scrapes on his arms stung as he flailed upright and broke the surface. Clawed hands seized him by the shoulders and Charizard dragged him back towards the outcropping. The fire-type landed heavily, and although Red was currently using him as a handhold to stand up he really needed to get back in the air._

 _He was already in the middle of signing for it when he noticed that wasn't going to happen. He had no idea when the psycho cut got Charizard's wing – he could only assume he charged right through the attack to rescue him – but it was bad._

 _Pikachu screamed out and all thought fled. He darted towards the sound on instinct, picking up the small ball of fur and throwing himself forward as another wave of psychic energy tore up the ground behind him._

 _Ignoring what were sure to be new bruises, he quickly sat up and looked around to take in the results of the chaos he hadn't been able to fully follow. Pikachu was barely holding onto consciousness; he was completely out of the battle. Blastoise might as well be, for all he was trying to get back upright. Charizard was grounded, but still fighting. Venusaur had taken a beating from when Blastoise was busy shielding_ Red _and not him. Snorlax looked slightly off-balance, but was still facing down his opponent._

 _And the opponent in question… was staring at him._

 _Its eyes weren't glowing blue though, in preparation for another attack. If Red didn't know better (and to be honest he wasn't sure he did), the creature looked… bewildered._

 _But then a vine whipped around its ribs and Venusaur dragged it back into a cloud of sleep powder._

 _Red hurriedly motioned for Snorlax and pointed at Venusaur. The wild pokémon was throwing out psychic waves, but was fighting a losing battle so long as Venusaur could hold out. On that front, Red signaled for a giga drain as well._

 _When his hands were free he scrabbled for his bag and the only thing he knew could hold this pokémon._

 _In hindsight, he realized Team Rocket's attempt to take over Silph Co made a sick amount of sense._

(-o-)

After one more deep, steadying breath, he tossed the master ball into the center of the circle and caught the bounceback as the pokémon appeared.

They immediately dropped into a low crouch, verbally hissing and telepathically lashing out. Espeon was screening the assault but plenty got through to Red, by his own request. If there was any hope of rehabilitating this pokémon – this _experiment_ – he needed to be able to understand them.

The impressions were always the same, or at least similar enough to blur into each other. Machines. A lab. Needles. Tubes filled with liquid. Chains. Restraints. Fire.

Always lots of pain.

Whenever Red sat down with Espeon after these sessions to sort it out, he recognized the Pokémon Mansion. That helped a lot of pieces click into place; but there was one image that filled in the remaining gaps, and he needed no help with recognition.

Giovanni. Sometimes smirking; sometimes angry. Always associated with pain.

While Red struggled to simultaneously process the images and reality, the creature scrambled backwards, halfway to all-fours, and his pokémon let them back up against the wall. This was not new either. Red had seen scared, feral pokémon before (and every time he thought of it he wanted to go storm a Rocket hideout and have Pikachu zap them all over again), albeit nothing like this until the first time he'd let the pokémon free from the master ball.

Nothing was standing out to him among the telepathic storm this time, so he gave the signal. Charizard and Blastoise simultaneously moved to box the pokémon in, and Venusaur stepped between them to release a cloud of stun spore. After everything they had gone through, Red couldn't bring himself to inflict any more pain than he could help. He wouldn't even do this, except the pokémon was predictable and it was necessary.

After anything that even remotely resembled an attack, the pokémon switched from telepathic assault to psychic waves that gave the cavern a new set of gouges to match the ones left before. Pikachu ran up behind Charizard, Red took up a place behind Blastoise, and Espeon hopped up on top of Venusaur (who was taking the hits much better than before, after so much practice) where she could get a clear line of sight. With a quick glance at her trainer, she pushed back at the pokémon with images from Red's own memory – his battles with Giovanni at Silph Co and at the Viridian Gym. Red had his doubts the pokémon could understand human speech even if he _did_ talk, but he always made sure to include Giovanni's words that Team Rocket was disbanded. He brought the idea that the group who did this was no more to the forefront in every way he could think of.

It was only possible because the pokémon let up on its own input. Espeon's gem gleamed softly along with the blue glow in her eyes as she conveyed everything Red pushed to her. So far it hadn't done much good, but every time Red hoped that this time, _this time_ , the pokémon would recognize that they weren't fighting back and they too stood against the people who did this to them. Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise simply buckled down and took the assault (and Red would be forever grateful his team stood by him through this, and do whatever he could to make up for asking it). Snorlax never moved from the entrance; Pikachu never moved past the wall the trio formed. Instead the little electric-type hopped onto Charizard's shoulder and began chattering at the pokémon. Red had no idea what he was saying, or how he could come up with that much to say, but he trusted his partner to reinforce his own attempts at communication.

The pokémon seemingly wasn't registering what Red was trying to tell them, so he tried a different tactic. He pushed forward with a question: are you okay? The words weren't quite formed; he focused more on getting the intention across. Intonation if nothing else.

Obviously the pokémon was anything _but_ okay, but all he wanted was a response. Any sign that there was _any_ attention on him. The psychic attacks faded away for the moment, and the pokémon hissed in Charizard's direction, still hunched over and defensive. Feral.

Red motioned to get Pikachu's attention, and quickly formulated his next intention. He'd need his partner's help for this, most likely. He pointed at him, and made the sign he used for him for double battles. Then he pointed at Charizard, and did the same. Blastoise, and the same. Then he pointed at the pokémon, and signed a question mark.

He turned his focus back to Espeon and the other psychic pokémon: what is your name? Distantly he heard Pikachu verbally echoing his sentiment.

The pokémon stared at Pikachu for a long moment, and then shifted his gaze to Red and back again. Their eyes were less wild now, but wide, not understanding.

Pikachu repeated the inquiry, tone pitched into an obvious question like humans did.

Red tried to project a feeling of safety. He had a pretty good idea of what the scientists had dubbed their experiment, but he wanted to be sure. He also didn't want to set them off by calling them a name they hated by association.

The pokémon curled in further, tail lashing. Blastoise staggered from a psychic blast. Red hastily backed off.

The glow in Espeon's eyes dimmed as Pikachu took the lead, a delicate back and forth that had the pokémon watching warily.

Finally, the pokémon made a soft sound, and turned to Red. And he finally answered the question with the name Red had suspected since the day he'd caught them, in the memory-voice of the scientist who first called him such.

Mewtwo.

Red nodded, and slowly raised his hands. Mewtwo's shoulders tensed, but all Red did was demonstrate the sign he'd prepared – borrowing from traditional sign language to spell out 'M2'.

Pikachu quietly said something in the background; presumably about how his trainer didn't talk.

It was the first major progress he'd made. Mewtwo didn't seem to understand what Red was doing, even after he repeated the sign and gestured at them, pushing the name though Espeon's telepathy, but for once they weren't violent. After seeing what he had, Red was pretty sure that for all the burned journals claimed 'vicious tendencies', the lashing out was at least half out of fear.

They pushed everything and everyone away, because they couldn't imagine receiving anything but hatred and pain.

Red stepped out from behind Blastoise and sat between him and Venusaur. He didn't do anything, didn't try to push the message he'd so often given before. Just waited to see how Mewtwo would take it.

Mewtwo stared at him, and the stalemate lasted until Red made to reach out.

They hissed and sent out a psychic blast. Blastoise swooped in and took the brunt of the attack, and Red hastily recalled the pokémon.

The team collectively breathed a sigh of relief when Mewtwo was safely back in the ball. Red carefully pocketed the device, and pulled out a series of healing items he'd stashed in his pack for just this purpose.

Venusaur rumbled an appreciation as he began applying potions and administering berries. Red murmured in his ear, no real words but soothing sounds. He looked up at Charizard, and the fire-type gave a distinct nod back along with Pikachu. They understood. They all did.

Team Rocket had broken Mewtwo in ways Red was still discovering, but he was determined to help them pick up the pieces.

* * *

 **Author's Notes** : Wow I've been sitting on this headcanon for quite awhile. I read a _lot_ of fics answering just why Red was on Mt. Silver when I discovered this site, but while there's probably one that uses this idea, I don't recall seeing it. Now that I've finally gotten around to writing it myself, I really like the result. This is right up there with Silence for me.

Also, as you probably noticed this is not anime-verse Mewtwo, or even manga-verse Mewtwo. Instead I shot for somewhere between "feral cat" and "PTSD victim". While Mewtwo may gain the ability to speak telepathically like it does in other verses, it's certainly not the case at the moment. As for Red's actions in trying to help him: while he's probably not doing it completely "right", I deliberately made it up on the fly, just like he did in-'verse.


	20. Return

**Return**

* * *

Silver sat on Route 29 for far too long, one foot dangling down over the ledge and facing into the breeze that tugged at his hair and jacket. As of late he'd usually taken to having at least one team member out of their ball with him, but that wasn't the case today. If he had to face their questioning, innocently curious looks, he wasn't sure he'd be able to go through with the idea that had been percolating in the back of his mind for weeks now. Of course, it was only early morning and it still felt like he might sit there all day in indecision, so there was that.

If it wasn't for Gold things would've been so much… no, that wasn't fair. Ignorance may have been bliss – or at least the peace of mind that came with a single-minded drive – but having lived through both sides of the equation, he couldn't say with any honesty that it was _better_ before.

He wasn't even really sure where _before_ ended. Victory Road? The underground of Goldenrod? Probably not before the Mahogany Hideout. Funny how this part of his life could practically be defined by his encounters with Gold; for all the people who'd given him the same message. Even Lance barely registered by comparison.

He shook off the thought. It was a distraction at the moment. It didn't matter _how_ he got to this little ledge on Route 29, only if he would go the rest of the way.

And he knew what the answer to that was. He'd never run from something he set out to do. But even as he slid off the ledge and put one foot in front of the other, the knowledge of what was coming twisted something in his chest.

Slipping into the town was easy. New Bark was a quiet little place and Silver had done this once before. That time, it was surveillance and theft; getting in and out unnoticed (he'd gotten good at that as much as he hated the reason for it). This time he'd actually use the front door.

There was a large glass pane built into the door, fogged over just slightly but he could see in well enough. Naturally no one actually looked up to notice him standing there, and he was ninety percent sure the lab wasn't locked. A voice in the back of his mind scoffed at the lack of security, but… if this was the place that turned out the likes of _Gold_ , never mind Cris and that what's-her-name-Lyra girl, well then… it probably wasn't that necessary.

His hand rested on the handle, and already he'd been standing out here too long. The town was small but not _that_ small, and someone might see. The back of his neck prickled in a paranoid being-watched sensation (and he _knew_ it was paranoid; he'd looked), and that drove him into easing open the door and slipping inside.

Surprise surprise, he _still_ wasn't noticed by either Elm or his assistant. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes: it was this exact situation that got him his first pokémon in the first place. He strolled up into the room and leaned against a bookcase and rapped it with his fist.

Professor Elm jumped about six inches out of his seat and spun around, staring at Silver in incomprehension for a second before regaining his composure. "Hello there, sorry I didn't see you there…" His eyes narrowed slightly, searching out a memory. "Have we met before?"

"Close." Not one for drawing out the situation, he pulled out a very specific pokéball. Now or never… he clicked the button.

Feraligatr appeared in a flash of light, immediately surveying the room. Silver focused on his pokémon for the second, until recognition dawned in his eyes. Professor Elm was also looking at Feraligatr, trying to understand Silver's hint. Feraligatr looked down at Elm, then turned to his trainer. He wasn't sure what they were doing here; and Silver knew that because he hadn't told him, or anyone on his team.

"That's… the totodile that was stolen!" Professor Elm cried. "That you… stole…" he moved closer to Feraligatr, examining him from multiple angles.

"Yeah," Silver admitted bluntly. "I took him, and I screwed up." He focused on Feraligatr, folding his arms across his chest. "I don't regret taking him. Never will. But he could've had a lot better; and my methods were no different than Team Rocket's. I can't give that time back; but I can give him a second chance now."

If Silver were to go on, he'd say that everyone on his team could've had better, and that he'd thought long and hard about giving all of them this choice. It wasn't like before, when he would've discarded them without care if they didn't live up to his standards. He pushed them hard, and was a lot angrier with them than – in hindsight – was warranted. But in the end every single one had proven their worth; and not just in strength despite their losses. This time, the choice was for them.

But all of that was irrelevant to Elm and he wasn't about to go spilling his guts.

He was half-expecting someone to call the cops, but the assistant was silently watchful, and Elm was focused on what he wasn't quite saying. "You want to… return Feraligatr to the lab?"

"I don't _want_ to," Silver bit out before he could stop himself. "But I _should_." His hands suddenly clenched into fists, and he exhaled a steadying breath. "At the very least, I should give the option." And he looked very pointedly at his pokémon to demonstrate _who_ the option was being given to.

Then he handed Feraligatr his own pokéball.

Feraligatr took it delicately in one clawed hand, the device tiny even at full size, spared one look at it, and moved with surprising fluidity to put himself at Silver's back, nearly curling around him like a persian. That was… weird. Not uncomfortable, per se, but weird all the same.

Professor Elm just smiled. "Regardless of what happened before, it seems like Feraligatr likes you a lot. For a pokémon, I believe the best happiness is to be with someone it loves." He casually waved off what Silver had said earlier. "I think it should stay with you."

Silver blinked, and looked up at Feraligatr, who rumbled in what… seemed to be agreement?

"Well, okay then." Rather than look too hard at it, he took back the pokéball, recalled Feraligatr, and sped-walked past the assistant that was barely trying to disguise his listening-in, and out of lab.

A few minutes later he was back at the edge of town, a ways into Route 29, and after wrestling for a bit over his memory of what just happened, he released his whole team. He'd resolved to do Feraligatr first, because he could admit that would be the hardest, but now he faced the remaining five all at once.

He tossed the balls onto the ground; just to get it over with. A memory flashed through his head: _"I'm going to be the greatest pokémon trainer ever. Because these guys are behind me."_

But were they?

He shoved his hands in his pockets as he looked back up at his pokémon. Crobat, perched on Feraligatr's shoulder. Gengar half-floating, half-standing on the water-type's other side, with Magneton hovering above. Alakazam and Sneasel standing together, the latter curious but the former looking like he had a guess as to what was going on.

Silver just shrugged, an affect that did flat nothing to convince anyone of the apathy it was supposed to convey. "I asked Feraligatr so I guess I should ask the rest of you: You sure you want to stick with me?"

Sneasel looked between him, and the fallen pokéballs, and back at him again. He then walked up, picked up his ball in his claws, and made a few more steps forward to hold it up towards his trainer.

One by one the rest of the team did the same. Alakazam didn't move, but psychically lifted his ball and all but shoved it into Silver's hand even though it was still in his pocket. Gengar helped Magneton and Crobat grab theirs before picking up his own. Silver had to pull out his hands to grab Crobat's as it was practically dropped on him. Feraligatr once more took up his ball and looked at Silver very pointedly before returning it.

"…Thanks," Silver murmured, clicking each one onto his belt in sequence.

Sudden footsteps made him turn around.

"Oh, don't mind me," Elm said, attempting to look innocent but Silver didn't believe it for a second. "I was just checking up on some monitoring points; I thought you'd already left." He turned back towards New Bark Town. "You know," he said, throwing a parting comment over his shoulder, "golbats only evolve into crobats when they share a close bond with another. Usually that's their trainer."

Silver had not known that. He watched mutely as Elm disappeared.

(-o-)

"Not now," Silver stated flatly when Gold showed up in Dragon's Den a week later when he was wrapping up his training session. "We're not ready yet. I'll challenge you again later."

Gold just held up his hands in surrender. "Alright! Sheesh, I wasn't going to anyway." He grinned. "Looking forward to it though."

"Why are you here then?" It was only a question by phrasing, not tone. Silver glared at his rival sidelong as he prepared to head back into the city.

"Would you believe I was just happening to be passing through and wanted to say hi?"

"No."

"Well, you're wrong." Gold looked amused, casually shifting his weight to one foot. "But in all seriousness I did have something for you."

"I don't need handouts."

"I know, but I have an extra and figured it might be useful for you."

Gold was almost as bad at playing innocent as Elm. After glowering at his smiling face for a few moments, Silver caved and let out a sigh. "Fine, I'll bite."

Gold's grin lit up as he fished out a TM from his hoodie pocket and held it out. "Don't think I haven't noticed your team looking a lot better. I think you've earned this thing."

He didn't wait for a response beyond Silver taking it and spun around towards the exit, _whistling_ of all things along the way and leaving Silver watching him go for once. He shook his head, but didn't toss the TM away as he walked back to Blackthorn proper.

As he made his way through the streets, he looked down at the device and read the label. TM 27, huh?

With a mental shrug (he did _not_ understand Gold sometimes) he attached it to Feraligatr's pokéball and went on his way.

* * *

 **Author's Notes** **:** For those who aren't aware or don't remember, TM 27 contains the move Return, which has more power the more the user likes its trainer. I came up with the title first and then once I had the idea for this stinger-of-sorts it was too good to pass up.

I don't think I've done a Silver-centric fic before, so hopefully I did him justice. This is based on an event that is referenced in HGSS - if you go to Elm's lab after doing the double battle with Lance and Clair, Elm's assistant will tell you about Silver trying to return the stolen starter to the lab. I just elaborated it into something that made more sense to me given Silver's character development as seen both in GSC and HGSS. There's a specific line from the former - during the Mt. Moon encounter to be exact - that I used because I think it's really powerful for him. I think I've mentioned this previously, but I'm not above mixing canon to suit me. ;)


	21. New Year's Eve

**New Year's Eve**

* * *

Kanto always had a pretty mild climate, and Cinnabar even moreso, meaning that even though it was the dead of winter Leaf's breath didn't quite fog in the air some as she navigated the gathering crowds that came with New Year's Eve. Bellossom was out to walk with her even as sunset drew ever-closer, and she led her in a near straight line to a cart set up on the edge of the street next to the pokémart. Upon arrival the grass-type tugged at her sock and whined, and Leaf looked down with a smile both amused and resigned. "All right."

She hoisted Bellossom into her arms to let her get a good look at the treats on display. She'd saved up some extra pocket money just for this evening anyway. Before she too began browsing she scanned the street momentarily. There was a grocery store a block down, which is what she'd been looking for in the first place, along with what looked like a couple of performers. She drew her attention back to the cart just in time for Bellossom to start squirming, pointing at a tray filled with small… was that marzipan? She'd only heard the term once on some show the center was playing on tv, but that sounded right.

The cart owner slid away from the customer he'd just finished ringing up and greeted her. Leaf read the card on the tray, asked a couple questions, and ended up with half a dozen confections filled with berry ganache, along with a ridiculously delicious-looking cupcake for her.

"In a little bit," she told Bellossom as they walked away with the box. "I promise the bluk berry one is just for you." Bellossom pouted but didn't protest too much.

She carefully stashed the box in her bag as they entered the grocery store, and ten minutes later walked out with a bottle of sparkling water. Close enough, she mused, and she'd be able to put together something resembling an actual meal from the stands closer to the coast – as much as that cupcake was tempting her. The performers outside pounded out a beat on their drums, adding to the cacophonic but not entirely crazy blend of music that had Bellossom dancing around her trainer's feet as they made their way towards the ocean.

"You're gonna trip me one of these days," Leaf chided lightly, far more amused than actually upset. Bellossom briefly stuck her tongue out and she had no idea where she learned that, honest.

She slipped off her shoes and socks as they reached the sand; not that it wasn't going to get everywhere anyway, but she could try. The street music faded out in favor of some concert going on further down the coast. Was that violin music of all things? Cool. She found herself bouncing to the beat herself a bit as she ordered and paid for her sandwich and chow for her pokémon.

After gathering the last of dinner she scoped out a spot by the water – thankfully it wasn't super-crowded yet – and released her full team. Blastoise and Ninetales were patient; Sandslash less so, immediately spinning in circles in an attempt to take in everything. Seel, released directly into the surf, happily began splashing about and Butterfree joined him, flitting about overhead.

 _'Shouldn't have done that if I wanted him to eat anytime soon,'_ Leaf thought, huffing out a laugh to herself.

Eventually food was distributed, dinner eaten, and Bellossom got her treat along with the rest of them. Sandslash poked at the grass-type and she stuck her tongue out again, this time darkened near-black by the berry juice. Sandslash snickered; Bellossom promptly swatted him over the head.

"Chill you two," Leaf drawled, making no actual move to interfere. The cupcake was way more interesting; by which she meant delicious. Tilting her head slightly to get at it without ending up with frosting all over her nose, she kept one eye on her team's antics and her ears out for signs that midnight was drawing near.

Around her the concert began to spill out from the stage area in preparation for the fireworks. She couldn't understand a single word of any of the conversations just because of the sheer number, but that hardly mattered considering she wasn't a part of any of them. The closest would be Blastoise and Ninetales talking about heck-if-she-knew behind her, with Butterfree chiming in on occasion. Probably silly human traditions, if she was to randomly speculate, but she wasn't _that_ good at understanding her pokémon, even the one she'd been with for…

Almost nine months, now that she thought of it (and counted on her fingers to make sure). Wow. Seemed like so much longer. Or shorter. She wasn't quite sure on that front. Probably longer; she was pretty sure most people took longer than this to make a trip around the whole region, even if Blue was still ahead of her and Red probably was too by whatever metric people used for these things beyond badges.

She leaned back on her hands and looked up at the sky as she contemplated that. The festival lights coming from the town washed out the stars, but she could still see a few particularly bright ones. If she were back in Pallet Town, she'd be able to see a lot more.

And there wouldn't be quite so much noise. Pallet was a small town, and Professor Oak would probably be hosting a lot of families – including hers – in his lab, where there would be a huge tv tuned to Viridian's broadcast. There'd be laughter and conversations climbing over each other in her ears, but she'd be able to join in as she pleased, or she could curl up on the couch with Red invariably at the other end closest to the corner of the room and Blue keeping anyone nearby busy since he never knew when to be quiet…

Ninetales settled against her back and she instinctively leaned against her inner warmth. Her eyes opened and she didn't remember when she closed them.

Blastoise helped Seel back to where their little group was gathered, shouldering past pokémon and humans alike to do so. They were close to the water but not _that_ close. She pulled the smaller water-type into her lap and scratched the back of his head. An announcer's voice blared over a distant speaker and gradually the crowd settled, turning not towards the ocean, but to Cinnabar Volcano where the fireworks platform had been set. Blaine was at the head of that operation, Leaf was sure, and if she squinted she imagined she could see the fires of his pokémon in the distance.

 _Ten, nine, eight…_

Around her the crowd picked up the chant started by the announcer. Last few seconds until the new year.

 _Seven, six, five…_

Blastoise rumbled something, perhaps counting along, and in a flash of inspiration she suddenly stood and grinned.

 _Four, three…_

She tugged on Blastoise and gestured him down, thanking him in his ear as she climbed on his shoulders, taking Seel with her.

 _Two, one…_

A deafening cheer rose up and Leaf joined in as the first firework went off, a huge one that lit the sky red and orange in a flurry of sparks. Leaf flinched from the crack even though she expected it, but recovered quickly.

Seel yelped in delight and reared up and back, forcing Leaf to adjust her grip as he began clapping his flippers together. Leaf opened the bottle of water. Someone was passing out fancy-looking cups but she didn't bother, just toasting the air and taking a drink straight from the bottle. Around her people were cheering and chatting to one another; no one she knew, but when traveling you made do with who was there.

Butterfree landed on her head, and she remembered that in her case, who she had was her team. It wasn't lonely, that way.

(-o-)

It was nearly an hour before the beach cleared enough for Leaf to make her way to the pokémon center. Bellossom had quickly crashed even before the firework show had ended, Butterfree soon following suit. Everyone else had still been awake when she recalled them, but they'd all be sleeping soon if their trainer had anything to say about it.

But first…

Somehow she managed to snag a computer in the center's lab and reached for the headphones, pulling up a video call with her other hand as she plugged them in. Settling them into place, she debated for a moment before calling the lab. It was well into the night – did this count as morning now? – but she suspected most people would still be there.

To her surprise, it happened to be the person she wanted that picked up.

"Hi, Mom."

Her mom's eyes lit up. "Hey Sweetheart! Happy New Year, it's great to hear from you!"

She smiled. "Wanted to say hi before I crashed."

"I can imagine. We're just about ready to head back home ourselves."

"Hi Dad," Leaf commented as the man in question passed by in the background. He waved and they exchanged a couple pleasantries before his attention was pulled away by who she thought was Professor Oak offscreen.

"How's everything going?" her mom asked. Leaf opened her badge case and pointed it at the screen, exclaiming with her over her latest adventures.

"Oh yes, Blue stopped by earlier, but he didn't stay for long," was her comment once Leaf mentioned her battle with him at Seafoam. "Guess he wasn't interested in spending time back home when he had another gym to challenge."

"I suppose so," Leaf said with a shrug. Truly, that didn't surprise her.

"Is Red there?"

"No." Leaf shook her head. "I _think_ he went back to Lavender to walk the routes between there and Fuchsia. Do some training and all. I know he went down Cycling Road on the first pass." She shrugged. "I take it you guys haven't heard from him?"

"Well, you know how he is."

"Fair enough." She smiled despite herself.

She had last called in Fuchsia herself, so there was a limit to things they could talk about (though her mom was all over Seel as her newest team member). Even so the pair drew it out for much longer than necessary. Her team was a form of family in many ways, but still different. Some things there was just no replacement for.

Finally Leaf was forced to sign off. "I'm seriously going to fall asleep here if I don't," she told her parents.

"Wish you were here."

"I know." Another smile. "Love you."

"Love you too, Sweetheart."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** This was written for the Writers Anonymous December Holiday Challenge. I _barely_ squeaked in under the deadline lol, so it was definitely more rushed than I'd like. I updated it after the contest was over, so either way I hope you enjoyed the read.

Not really sure what to say, actually. I just picked a character and followed them based on the very rough timeline I made for everyone's journeys. I knew I wanted that conversation with Leaf's family, though _how much_ I had no idea until I actually wrote it. New Year's has been more about friends and neighbors for me, with Christmas and Thanksgiving being the 'family' holidays, but I imagine for traveling trainers there's not much difference. I suppose in trainer culture your neighbors are whoever also happens to be in town with you, but being out of contact with family for so long... I think I drew a bit on my undergrad experience there.


	22. Heat

**Heat**

* * *

May's thoughts as she made her way through what she _hoped_ was the deepest part of Team Magma's base were pretty much encompassed by the sheer heat and a wordless, instinctual, desperate desire for fresh air. For the hundredth time she touched the pokéballs at her waist, even though most everyone else had cleared out of her way by this point. Swampert's skin had started to dull and dry, the wet film evaporating, and it had become increasingly harder to get any power out of his water attacks as of late. She'd started relying more and more on his physical strength and Trapi- _Vibrava's_ (that particular reminder made her smile) ground attacks to get through all the numel the Magma grunts carried around. They had clear shields around any magma flows (lava flows? She wasn't entirely sure about terminology in this case) in their base, along with a ridiculous number of vents, but that hadn't exactly stopped all the heat radiating from them.

And maybe it was her imagination, but this one coming into view around the corner felt practically nonexistent. It was pretty big though, and-

Wow. That was a _lot_ of magma in that pit.

She slowed to a walk automatically as more and more of the pool came into view. The sheer heat made her vision go blurry, so she couldn't quite see what was in there; but if what the members she'd battled had said were true…

"Groudon…"

It wasn't her that spoke, but Maxie, who was standing next to the shield and gazing past it without any sign he noticed her approach. May found her vision transfixed by the blue orb he held that was maybe the size of his fist. She'd seen the pedestals on Mt. Pyre, but it still surprised her that something so little could do so much…

Maxie continued talking to the huge, inert form in the magma pit. "I have brought you the Blue Orb. Let its shine awaken you!"

' _But Groudon is red…_ ' May thought, pretty much nonsensically, as Maxie raised the orb above his head and the object began to glow.

"Show me the full extent of your power!"

Everything turned the orb's namesake color as the glow brightened and flowed outwards. And Mt. Chimney began to shake.

The shield shattered with Groudon's roar. The orb's light faded, and the dark patterns along the legend's body were lit with blue for a little bit longer before that too faded away. Everything past that point was a blur from May's perspective, the world going gray for a worrying moment until everything stabilized.

The mountain shook again as the beast dove into the magma, and then everything went still and quiet. May had long since lost her footing from the tremors and blindly scrambled for the exit, the heat overwhelming.

She only got control of her thoughts once she was out of the inner chamber. Maxie was not far behind her, staring at the orb in his hand and looking lost. "Wasn't the Blue Orb the key…?" he murmured.

"But Groudon's red," May said without thinking. Her brain-to-mouth filter had vanished… probably a couple hours ago when the heat really started getting to her. "Why didn't you get the other one?" That he hadn't seemed kind of stupid since the other one was supposed to be _red_ … And yeah the patterns that marked the legend's body _had_ shone blue for a moment, but it was _red_ , and… Maxie's plan _was_ kind of stupid in the first place – she'd done quite well in her ecology class, thank you very much – was he really stupid enough to take the wrong-colored orb? Maxie at least seemed slightly more intelligent than Archie, but Magma had gotten there first…

Maxie glowered at her. "Shut your mouth until you have done the extensive amount of research _I_ have and _understand_ what you're talking about." His free hand went for a pokéball. "Don't think I don't remember you from the last time we met at the summit. What sort of cheap stunt are you trying to pull?"

May couldn't think of a sensible answer to a question that weird and resorted to just calling out a pokémon of her own. It took both Vibrava and Swampert to down his three, including one very stubborn camerupt, but at the end May stood over him with two pokémon still ready to go and four more in reserve.

Maxie eyed Swampert balefully, but gave in even as he spat "Pest," at her.

"I'm just saying, there has to be a reason Groudon just left-"

"You think I don't know that?" Maxie snapped at her, then shook his head roughly. "No matter, Groudon's gone, so there's no more need for this blasted volcano."

' _Thank goodness,'_ May thought instantly.

"This is where we part," Maxie finished; and just like that he was gone before she could react.

She followed anyway if only because that way was the exit.

(-o-)

The past few times May had been all over scrambling across the rocks and ledges that made up Jagged Pass, but today it just… really really sucked. She stopped for a minute, breathing hard, and shaded her eyes to look at the sky. The sun shone brightly through the trees. Maybe it was just her imagination, but it was almost… _too_ brightly.

No, no she was just being paranoid and it was coming up on summer _in Hoenn_ and she hadn't been out of the tunnel for that long, and… and… and on that front she kept moving, wanting to get as far away from the secret entrance as she could because she just _couldn't stand being in there anymore_.

But the thought was a very visceral reminder that such a powerful pokémon now awake and… and _somewhere_. And no one knew _where_ , whichwas a kind of terrifying thought all by itself. May almost physically reeled from it.

Stupid, stupid. She should have told Flannery; or the police. Yeah, she should have taken that stupid emblem straight to the gym leader and… and maybe she could have helped; she was a good trainer and she had beaten Maxie for whatever that was worth; but _noooo…_

The gym leader in question was actually on her way up the pass herself, looking May over in concern as she approached. "Are you okay? A bunch of trainers have been coming down with news about sirens and the station detected some sort of activity-"

May all but shoved the emblem into her hands, barely noticing the police officers behind her. "Magma base. Halfway up. Have fun." Too late.

Everything still felt too hot. She stumbled out of the tree cover onto flat ground on the outskirts of Lavaridge and beelined for the pokémon center. The blast of air conditioning made her shiver but there was still heat layered onto her skin. She spotted the door leading to the hot springs and almost physically flinched at the idea.

Deep breaths. In. Out. Cool air flowed into her lungs and she began to think more clearly. The nurse at the desk looked concerned as she approached, enough that she spared a glance at her arms. That was definitely some heat rash forming, but at least it wasn't an actual burn.

She mustered up a smile, and it came out kind of sheepish but it wasn't like that was _wrong_. "Hi. We were training on Mt. Chimney and I guess we stayed there too long." Even as she spoke she pulled out pokéballs. "Nothing major; everyone's okay. Just need to get them checked out." She put a hand on the counter and realized she was swaying on her feet a bit.

The nurse at the desk scooped the balls into the slotted tray and then reached out to gently touch her shoulder. "Thank you; I'm sure they'll be fine. I'll get them to the back, just have a seat and I'll get you some water too."

"Shower, maybe?" May asked hopefully. She was _so_ going to blast that thing ice cold when she got a chance…

The nurse smiled. "Let's get you actually hydrated first." She passed her team to a wigglytuff and stepped out from behind the counter to guide her to a chair. "Swablu," she called absentmindedly, "fetch a water bottle please and see if you can get Linda to take over the desk for a minute."

A chirp emanated from behind a computer and the little blue pokémon in question fluttered into sight for a moment before disappearing into the back room. May kind of lost track of the desk after that; a cold water bottle was dropped into her hands and she hadn't quite realized how thirsty she was until she started gulping it down. She held the bottle in one hand while the nurse held her other arm, checking her pulse by touch and putting a cold pack against the back of her neck which felt absolutely _amazing_.

"Looks like you got a little too close to the caldera, May," the nurse commented, examining her arm after writing down her basic information.

"Probably. My bad," she replied, idly wondering about the technicalities of actually being in the lava tubes inside the mountain and how close they were to the 'actual' caldera as opposed to the normal training grounds around the summit. She was still dizzy; that probably wasn't a good sign was it?

The nurse murmured something about checking on the guard rails while she took May's blood pressure and temperature and had her finish off the water. She led her back to the main desk and checked something a side computer next to another nurse – 'Linda', probably. "Your team is doing fine; they should be ready in an hour and a half or so," she said, grabbing a room key without prompting. "Let's get you upstairs."

May didn't have to use the nurse's support, but did keep her hands on the rails as she was guided upstairs. She quickly dumped her stuff in the room's locker, grabbed some loose pajamas because she was _not_ going anywhere else today if she could help it, and headed for the showers under the nurse's direction. "Take that shower and keep the water cool," she said. "Are you okay to stand?" When May nodded she went on. "There's a stool in there if you need to sit down. I'll have someone check on you in ten minutes; you are definitely suffering from heat exhaustion but I don't think it's gone into heatstroke." After receiving something resembling an affirmative murmur in response she left May alone.

As she stood under the cold water, scrubbing away sweat, she became lost in thought. It was good to know her team really was okay. Especially after that battle, as close as they were to the lava-magma-whatever pool where that… that _behemoth_ of a legend had slept.

She shuddered at the reminder, and almost instinctively looked for a window even though there wasn't one. It was out there, and it felt like there should be some sign, some sort of _change_ just from its presence.

Maybe… Groudon _had_ left through the magma from what she could recall. Everything was kind of hazy (the base itself had been bad enough the heat that had almost made her pass out at the end was definitely the main factor there), but maybe Groudon just went deeper and back to sleep? Maxie had brought out the _blue_ orb, after all. And yes her brain was _still_ going on about that.

Had Maxie's first plan been simply to awaken Groudon with the power of the eruption? It would explain a lot; it wasn't like they could possibly expect all that lava to get to Hoenn's coast… And if she worked hard enough to remember… Yeah, yeah that probably _was_ it, wasn't it?

So what had Archie been after…?

She shut the water off with a heavy hand and stumbled towards a towel. Nope; done now. She couldn't even begin to start dealing with that nonsense.

She pulled on shorts and a tank top and returned to her assigned room. Immediately she collapsed on the bed and was out like a light before whoever was supposed to check on her even got there.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** This was written for a contest prompt from the PokeWrite forum: "Write a fic based around 'Heat'. How you define and use 'heat' is entirely up to you." I went about as literal as you can get haha. I almost wrote the first Magma encounter at Mt. Chimney but I didn't like where it fell in the timeline for this specific prompt (I have a giant calendar now - it is helpful). As a reminder, Gens I-IV are my sandbox and the Hoenn timeline is mostly based on Emerald. :)

Hopefully I got all the appropriate emotions across even after glossing over some parts. I'm pretty sure 'heat-induced brain-fried exhaustion' is there but hopefully it didn't overshadow everything else _too_ much.


	23. Start

**Start**

* * *

All right, maybe it wasn't the best way to start off a conversation. In Barry's defense, it sounded _perfectly fine_ in his head, and even after he said it, right up until Lucas gave him that flat look he got when Barry's wavelength didn't match up with anyone else.

Maybe it was the million-dollar fine threat, but he'd used that before and half the time it was the only way to get his best friend actually moving. And he'd already gotten the two of them all the way out of Twinleaf and on the path to Lake Verity, so that was something, right? Right?

Nah, it had to have been once they got out there, when he actually mentioned he wanted to find a pokémon like the one in that Red Gyarados report. But... it wasn't like it didn't make _sense_. If that Lake of Rage place over in Johto could have some sort of super-rare pokémon in it, then of _course_ it was entirely possible Lake Verity here in Sinnoh would have one too. The _idea_ was sound, obviously. Sometimes it took Lucas a bit to actually see that though so he had to try a couple different ways.

"Barry…" Lucas said slowly, "the red gyarados was given that special report because it _was_ so rare. Rare, by definition, means we probably aren't going to find anything like it."

Point proven, then. Barry huffed out a sigh, stomping his foot and putting his hands on his hips for emphasis. "No one's going to find it if they don't go looking!"

"Even if we did, do you really want a storm like what happened over in Johto?"

He rolled his eyes skyward. "I'm not saying it's gonna be a _gyarados_ , Lucas, sheesh." Like he was really expecting a big blue (or red) draconic-looking serpent to be in the lake. Twinleaf was a small town but Lake Verity wasn't _that_ big either – _someone_ should have found that already. Besides, rare pokémon could be small too.

"Furthermore," Lucas pointed out, looking unimpressed, "we have no evidence that a rare pokémon even exists in Lake Verity in the first place."

Barry wasn't impressed either, if Lucas was ignoring him and resorting to the big words. He leaned forward for even further emphasis because really? That was a stupid argument. "Of course there is! It even says so on the sign!"

"Didn't _you_ make that sign?"

The noise that left Barry's mouth was one of clear exasperation. "Of _course_ not! Jamison did!"

"That still doesn't help your argument as much as you think it does."

Barry just rolled his eyes again, turned around, and stormed towards the sign in question. It stood next to the path right before the actual lakeshore would come into sight, weathered and probably in need of repair after the spring snow a couple months back. He didn't quite remember what it said, but it was along the lines of 'something something legendary pokémon', so that was good enough for him. He didn't look back to see if Lucas was going to follow; he always did, even when he was set on being a buzzkill. Barry figured that meant his friend wasn't as opposed to the idea as he was acting. Besides, they'd both agreed it would be fun to find their first pokémon for themselves (Barry _might_ have taken it a bit more seriously than Lucas, but he _had_ agreed).

Lucas just sighed when he finally caught up and Barry mentioned this fact. "Yeah, but if we're going to be actually looking for pokémon, shouldn't there be someone else? I mean, the bidoof shouldn't bother us but…"

Barry waved him off. "Around here? Nah. Besides, we're just _looking_. I bet we won't even be here long enough for that to matter." Lake Verity came into view as he spoke, water gently lapping at the edge and, with the last of the morning mist burning off, presenting a picture of serenity.

Taking in the scenery made Barry realize that the two of them weren't alone. Much further down the trail around the lake were an old man and a girl who _might_ be around their age, but they were too far away to tell for sure.

"Better not be trying to find the legendary pokémon too," he muttered to himself.

(-o-)

"Oh, come on!" Barry cried out to the world in general. "It's been like four hours!"

"It's been one, if that," Lucas pointed out, unfazed. "And did you really think it was going to be that easy?"

"Well, no…" he replied, voice descending into a mumble, "but it would've been _nice_."

Lucas was _good_ at this kind of stuff. Every time they came out here on science field trips he would always get good grades on the stuff the teachers had them write afterwards. He could sit still for- _ever_ and he even got a bidoof to sniff at his backpack once.

It made some of the parents wonder out loud why he and Barry were best friends. Neither of them cared, the adults just didn't _get it_ , but the point was: Barry was _not_ good at sitting still. It was boring.

Which was why Lucas was being boring and sitting on a rock well away from the shore while _Barry_ was kicking around the silt in the shallowest part of the lake – just barely underwater – and watching it swirl around his shoes. He thought maybe the splashing would get the pokémon's attention, but apparently not.

He tried skipping rocks instead. That didn't work either.

Aiming carefully at the small island near the middle, he pitched a rock as far as he could and watched the disappointing splash it made not even halfway there. The other two people had disappeared into the trees at some point, so he couldn't even drag his friend over and start talking to them.

Though that didn't mean the friend in question had to be sitting there being _boring_. "Lucas, come on!" he called. "We're not going to get anywhere just by staying in one spot!"

Lucas looked like he had a reply to that, but he didn't say it and stood up with a sigh. This was probably getting old for him too – no one was _that_ patient.

They set off around the lake trail, Barry's wet shoes squishing a bit but he didn't mind. He wandered on and off the narrow dirt path, shuffling through some of the longer grass and investigating nearby trees. "Hey Lucas, do you think that's a starly nest?" he asked, pointing up at a cavity a few feet above his head.

His friend looked up at it, frowning a bit as he thought. "Probably?"

"Cool," Barry replied as he backed up a bit to get a better look. "Guess that makes sense. I don't remember anyone saying anything else-"

He was cut off by a flurry of gray feathers and high-pitched shrieking calls. He instinctively threw his hands up to shield his face, backpedaling to figure out what had just dropped in on him. He heard Lucas call his name and a moment later his friend was at his side. The feathery terror flew back and landed on the ground, wings spread. A starly. Even as Barry figured that out another one poked its head out of the nest they'd just been looking at and joined the first.

"Ow," Barry muttered, checking his arms over for scratches. Lucas was glancing between him and the two wild pokémon, and just then another call drew Barry's attention behind him, where a third starly had also decided the scene looked interesting.

The three trilled and chattered around them as he and Lucas just looked at each other. "They're not that big," Barry commented, looking back down at the little birds. They really weren't; they were, what, maybe a foot high? They were noisy and his ears would probably hurt after awhile, but they didn't look that threatening.

That was when one of them decided to remind them why humans generally didn't do so well against pokémon alone. It launched itself back into the air, dive-bombing them and tackling Lucas in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.

Barry swatted at the starly and it backed off, wings still spread in challenge. Lucas sat up, winded but otherwise fine. Even so, a little bit of fear was starting to prickle at the back of Barry's neck. He looked around for something, anything. A stick, maybe. "Think we could catch them?"

"We don't have…"

Even before Lucas finished his sentence it dawned on him. "Wait… agh!" He planted his forehead in his palm. "We don't have any pokéballs!" He turned to Lucas, waving his hands to emphasize his point. "You know, p-o-k-accent-e balls!" Of all the things to be missing on a trip _specifically to find a pokémon!_

Yeah, holding off explanations until they got out of Twinleaf definitely hadn't been the way to start off, even discounting anything he actually said when they got on the route.

"That's what I was trying to tell you!" Lucas retorted.

"I know, I know, but…!"

A new voice cut in when they weren't looking. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"

The starly all fluttered in alarm at the volume, and Barry would be lying if he said he didn't jump too. The old man he had noticed before strode towards them, unafraid of the wild pokémon. Even the starly seemed to draw back under his gaze.

Then a girl ran up behind him. "Professor, I found- Oh!" She fumbled around for a ball and threw it, releasing a blue pokémon onto the grass. "Piplup, help us out please!"

Barry didn't know beaks could even _create_ growls until the piplup demonstrated, facing down the trio of starly with no hint of fear even though it wasn't much bigger than the other pokémon in the first place. One of the starly chattered back and under the girl's direction the piplup ran forward and delivered a solid smack right to its face.

Barry couldn't resist a cheer as the starly hopped back, though soon enough the flyer launched itself into the air again.

The old man calmly drew out a pokéball of his own and tossed it, and very big, very _intimidating_ staraptor made its appearance. With powerful flaps from its huge wings it held itself aloft overhead, and wasted no time shooing off the smaller birds with little more than a few gusts.

There was a moment of blessed silence as the cacophony the starly created vanished with them as they went back to their nests.

"My apologies, Dawn," the old man said, completely ignoring Barry and Lucas for the moment, "you were doing fine; I simply felt this particular incident should be ended sooner rather than later."

"That's okay, Professor," Dawn replied. "Um… I meant to say, I found your briefcase. You left it on the shore back there." As she spoke she held up a battered tan case, offering it to him.

"Ah, so that's where it went. Good work." The 'professor' took the case and set it at his feet. "Now then," he turned his laser-like gaze onto first Lucas, and then Barry, "You two don't seem to have any pokémon between you."

"Uh, no, sir," Lucas said, shoulders hunched a bit in embarrassment.

"Then what brings you out here alone?"

"Well," Barry said, "we were looking for a pokémon in the lake…"

The professor's silence was practically _audible_.

And now that Barry thought about it, he recognized the man. That was Professor Rowan, wasn't it?

Hoo boy. _This_ didn't seem like a great start either.

(-o-)

"A pair of foolish, reckless, kids…" Professor Rowan muttered to himself once he was done lecturing Lucas and Barry personally, pacing a bit as he did so. Off to the side, Dawn sat down and held onto Piplup, looking as uncertain as any of them.

"Hey," Barry said without thinking. It had been hard to pay attention to the whole thing – they had been _fine_ , they could've gotten away if they really tried, and Twinleaf wasn't that far away. But at some point in the middle of the lecture the professor – of all people – had mentioned he was _concerned_ about what he and Lucas would be like if they _did_ have pokémon of their own, and he'd been kind of stuck on that afterwards. It wasn't fair, but especially not to Lucas. "This was my idea. Look, forget about me, but Lucas here was planning a trip to Sandgem with his mom and everything." He couldn't look the professor in the eye, but he kept going anyway. "He definitely deserves a pokémon, and I was the one who dragged us out here and all…"

 _Definitely_ not the best start. Though he was pretty sure he'd had that thought already. Lucas nudged him hard in the side, but didn't say anything out loud.

Professor Rowan turned to him with an appraising look, and Barry bit his lip. He had no idea what the professor was thinking, but he looked kinda scary so he doubted it was going to be good.

Under that audible silence he found himself rambling about what they were doing. How they'd – he'd – wanted to find his first pokémon, and wanted to travel around Sinnoh, and he was going to go with Lucas too since he'd been waiting for Barry's birthday to come around, and how he wanted to try and find the rare pokémon in the lake after seeing that Red Gyarados report, and basically everything that had led up to that point.

Another moment of tense silence and then… a smile quirked underneath Professor Rowan's moustache.

(-o-)

Professor Rowan and Dawn had escorted them back to Twinleaf, the former mentioning something about returning to his lab soon.

What he _hadn't_ mentioned was staying overnight and perhaps not-so-unintentionally meeting Lucas and Barry at the entrance to Route 201 the next day. Barry hadn't planned on going out again, not with his mom practically smothering him after she'd heard what happened and especially not when he didn't want to get Lucas into any more trouble, but there'd been no harm in running around the small town and somehow the professor must have figured them out.

"You two truly love pokémon, don't you?" he asked, startling Lucas out of watching some bushes that had rustled earlier.

"Of course!" Barry replied instantly, and his friend was not far behind with his agreement.

The professor hummed a bit and nodded to himself, hoisting up the briefcase from yesterday and setting it in his arms. "There does come a day when every person should meet their first pokémon. I think that day is today for you two."

"Really?!" Barry had no idea how the guy got from Point A to Point B (and considering how a lot of people reacted to _him_ , that was saying something), but he couldn't bring himself to care. His birthday wasn't for four days, so he couldn't get his license, but technically speaking there wasn't a rule you couldn't own a pokémon before then.

"Indeed." Professor Rowan motioned with the briefcase. Some distance behind him, Dawn appeared to have done a double-take, but didn't say anything about it and simply watched with Piplup.

"I bet he talked to our parents," Lucas whispered in his ear.

"Perhaps I did," the professor said, sounding amused and looking completely unashamed of the eavesdropping. Lucas flushed.

Barry was annoyed at all the adults conspiring with each other around them, but was more entranced by the tempting briefcase. He reached forward automatically but suddenly stopped himself. "Hey, Lucas, you should pick first." When Lucas looked at him in surprise he drew himself up. "C'mon, I gotta show some class after yesterday. Besides, you've been waiting longer."

Lucas smiled. "Thanks." And with that he reached forward and unlatched the case, Professor Rowan letting it fall open in his arms.

"I had two other starter pokémon in the lab in addition to Dawn's piplup," he explained as Lucas and Barry examined the pair of red and white spheres. "I believe they will be well suited for young people like you." When Lucas hesitated he took up both pokéballs himself, quickly releasing a turtwig and a chimchar.

The two boys practically didn't have to choose, as Turtwig immediately wandered over towards Lucas and Chimchar started curiously tugging on Barry's pants with his little hands. The two friends looked at each other and nodded, before each scooping up their respective choice. The small leaves on Turtwig's head twitched before it settled in contentedly, letting Lucas gently trail his fingers over its shell. Meanwhile Barry cautiously rearranged Chimchar to let him perch on his arm until the little guy got a clue and obligingly doused its fiery tail.

Professor Rowan smiled as he handed them their respective balls. "Good choices, it seems. Now listen well." This time Barry found himself straightening up and paying very close attention, even if Chimchar was nibbling at his sleeves. "The two pokémon you have just been entrusted with are quite young and new to the world, not unlike yourselves." Barry wanted to reply, but he was starting to think he _might_ be joking with them a bit. Maybe the guy wasn't so scary after all. Also, he was still talking in any case. "As fellow youngsters I hope you will do quite well together. I believe your birthday is in a few days, yes? I expect to see you two in my lab soon."

"Yes sir!" Barry replied.

This was the best start _ever_.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** This was written for the Writers Anonymous Random Opener Challenge, in which the first sentence of the story was provided and had to be used as-is. I did _try_ to write this a little more fandom-blind-friendly than my last WA attempt, though I'm still not great at it, apparently. I've edited this since then (though prior to the deadline) thanks to the feedback of some wonderful reviewers.

For the non-fandom-blind, this is sort of a blend between the Diamond/Pearl and Platinum opening sequences, with a few twists of my own thrown in on the fly as the story was written to make everything fit and seem logical. This is the first Barry-centric fic, so that's always fun.

Also, shoutouts to Chorocojo's Pokémon LPs re: the sign comment. :)


End file.
